Northern Connector

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister inform the house how local South Australian companies will benefit from the recently awarded Northern Connector contract?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:32): Can I thank the member for Little Para for his question. Can I also thank him for his efforts in leading the Northern Connector Jobs Taskforce. He is working hard to ensure employment opportunities flowing from this project are being maximised for people in the northern suburbs, particularly, I should say, given the establishment of what is called the NorthHub, which the member for Little Para and I had the pleasure of announcing last week, along with the announcement of the successful tenderer for the delivery of the Northern Connector project, Lendlease.

Members might remember—and certainly the member for Mawson, the Minister for Tourism, would remember—that Lendlease was the company which delivered the duplication of the Southern Expressway between 2010 and 2014. At that time, they put a tremendous amount of effort into ensuring that workers from the southern suburbs for that project were engaged on that project, and that is certainly the approach that they are taking with the Northern Connector, making sure the people in the northern suburbs are getting every opportunity that their—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I enjoy the member for Chaffey's interjections, Mr Speaker, like the subtly annoying and irrelevant spoken word contributions at the beginning of so many tracks of the Dark Side of the Moon album.

In order to maximise the local content and employment of the major works contract, Lendlease has subcontracted several civil construction packages to South Australian companies that specialise in civil infrastructure projects. The SEM Group, or some people old enough would remember that they used to be called the Salisbury earthmovers company, located in Salisbury Plains, will undertake approximately one kilometre of the works, which entails the Port Wakefield Road-Bolivar Road intersection upgrade. It is expected that the works that the SEM Group will undertake will support approximately 40 jobs on average for the duration of this section of the project, with approximately 85 per cent of their workforce living in the northern suburbs.

Another local company, Civil & Allied Technical Construction Pty Ltd, based in Angle Park, will undertake approximately 4.7 kilometres of works, including the Bolivar interchange. These works are expected to support approximately 70 jobs on average throughout the duration of the project, with 80 per cent of their workforce living in the northern suburbs.

Well-known South Australian company, McMahon Services based in Dry Creek, will also undertake 2.4 kilometres of works, including the northern interchange and the Port River Expressway Bridge demolition, which will support approximately 70 jobs on average throughout the duration of the project. Fifty per cent of McMahon's workforce working on this section of the Northern Connector project again live in the northern suburbs. Another company, this time based in Roseworthy, LR&M Constructions, will undertake about 2.3 kilometres of works, including the Waterloo Corner Road intersection. This work will support approximately 65 jobs on average for the duration of the project, with about 90 per cent of their workforce again living in the northern suburbs.

These local South Australian companies will work with Lendlease and the NorthHub in order to ensure northern jobseekers, particularly displaced automotive workers, are given the best chance to gain employment. We have worked incredibly hard, not just with Lendlease but also with the Industry Participation Advocate, to maximise the employment opportunities for people in the northern suburbs on the Northern Connector project. That is why both the Premier and I worked so hard with the former prime minister and the former assistant minister in the Coalition government to secure funding for this Northern Connector project. I am glad we did it, despite the intentions of the deputy leader, without a toll on the Northern Connector project.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned and so is the member for Stuart. The deputy leader.