Rail Electrification Project

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): Is there any potential safety hazard for commuters or those adjacent to the lines if there is a further break?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning, Minister Assisting the Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:33): I thank the leader for his question and I think it is an eminently reasonable concern. Certainly, for all of the people who are involved in operating our rail corridors, the first and foremost consideration they have is exactly what the opposition leader refers to, and that is safety—safety during the operating of that rail corridor and safety of the corridor as a whole, whether it is seeing a train service run up and down there or not.

I guess there are two particular elements that I can focus on: one is the safety of the operation of the line as it is today and safety as the corridor will be as it is being worked upon for these rectification works. I am advised that all steps are taken and have been taken to ensure that the corridor is safe. Is there a safety issue if one of these wires falls down? Conceivably, it would be a similar situation to a powerline falling down on a road corridor.

Is there risk? Yes, there is risk, and that risk, from the government's perspective, is unacceptable to the extent that it needs to be mitigated. That is why, rather than rectifying certain sections of the wire which were, at an earlier stage, thought to be the problem, the contractor and the government have jointly reached a decision that the full extent of all the cable that was supplied by this manufacturer from Victoria, Olex Australia, all the wire it supplied to this project, is to be completely replaced to minimise that risk that the leader alludes to in his question, the risk to safety from this recurring.