SOUTH ROAD UPGRADES

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier honour his 2006 promise, when he stated, 'The government will honour its election commitment to build a $140 million South Road/Sturt Road underpass'?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:36): The people of South Australia will soon be experiencing one of the great state-building projects that this state has seen, which is the $900 million project to deal with what has been long regarded as one of the great congestion areas in our road network. This has been dedicated as a national freight network, which is the whole explanation for why the arrangements have changed. Back in 2007 when the new federal Labor government came in they dedicated this as a new freight network.

We had already made a decision as a government to defer the decision for economic reasons on that particular project. So, when the new national government came in and declared the whole of South Road (in a sensible decision) as part of the national freight network, they also provided to the South Australian government a very substantial amount of funding to carry out very detailed studies about the way in which we should progress with the establishment of that freight network.

When that detailed work was undertaken it demonstrated a number of things. One is that a tunnel was, obviously, a very expensive option. Secondly, there were other options which were more consistent with protecting the community and protecting businesses, minimising cost, but still getting the excellent result, and it threw up this project as being not only a different way of configuring the project but a more economic way of doing it. Then, when one matched the costs with the benefits, it threw up an extraordinary number, 2.4, which is a benefit-cost ratio which is rarely seen on an infrastructure project, especially a piece of road infrastructure. So, a very powerful benefit-cost ratio.

Of course, we are duty bound, in light of that, to advance that as the first project. We are duty bound to use the model, to use the information that came from that modelling, to design the project and that is what has happened. That is why back in October of last year we sent this to Infrastructure Australia. That is why the commonwealth government, in its wisdom, as part of the federal budget tonight, will announce its commitment to this project. So, that is the order of events.

A decision was taken to defer the project. A study was taken to consider the best way of getting this continuous north-south corridor, and now we have the project that we can support and the commonwealth is supporting. It is a great project for South Australia. Why doesn't the opposition get on board?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Supplementary, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Before the supplementary, I warn the member for Heysen for the first time and call the member for Morialta to order. A supplementary from the member for Davenport.