House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Rail Electrification Project RAIL ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Bragg Deputy Leader of the Opposition RAIL ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): Why then did the government cancel the Gawler electrification project last year, before the federal announcement this year? The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly West Torrens Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy Minister for Housing and Urban Development RAIL ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:47): At the last state budget, we announced that we would continue electrification to Dry Creek. When tenders— Mr Pisoni interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for the second and final time. The Minister for Transport. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We announced in the last state budget that we would electrify to Dry Creek. We put out tenders and market soundings. We received tenders back. Those bids came in exceptionally under our budget, and we were able to increase our destination to Salisbury. We were able to go further, make our dollar drive further. Unfortunately, the commonwealth government broke the hearts of everyone in the north by ripping out the money, and the only person who is silent on that is the Leader of the Opposition, because you support Tony Abbott all the time. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Leader, would you like a question?