Heysen Electorate Road Upgrades

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:21): I rise to take this opportunity to recognise the petition tabled in this house earlier today by Meadows residents. They have brought to the attention of the honourable members of the House of Assembly their petition seeking to draw attention to the need to upgrade the intersection at the corner of Battunga, Mawson and Nottage roads in Meadows, right in the centre of Heysen. I could not be more proud to express my gratitude to those who have put their pen to this petition and expressed the important need to improve the intersection at the centre of Meadows and, indeed, at the centre of Heysen.

As the petition makes clear to honourable members, the township of Meadows has grown rapidly and continues to grow. I understand that in the 2006 census the population of Meadows was 752 and that by the 2016 census it had grown to 1,369 residents. It is anticipated that the population of Meadows will continue to grow, largely as the result of new residential subdivision to the south of Meadows—and a beautiful area it is, too. It can be seen that with the growth of Meadows comes increased traffic and, as a result, increased pressure on what is the main central intersection at the centre of Meadows.

This is a four-way intersection. The petition sets out that, in the view of those who have brought it forward, 141 in all, the intersection is no longer adequate for that increased traffic and that it is increasingly the source of public safety concerns. The government is urged immediately to provide funding to upgrade the intersection. I underscore the statement that is made in the petition by pointing out to those honourable members who are not intimately familiar with the intersection—and I very much urge everyone to visit Meadows and visit regularly—it is one that carries significant amounts of traffic, not only locally but through the region and the local area.

It has to its south-west the great Meadows Hotel. On its south-east corner, it has the Pik A Pie Bakery, and on its north-west corner the busy Fuel n Go at Meadows. Importantly, on its north-east corner the intersection has the beautiful and large Battunga Park. We are indeed in the middle of Battunga country. So it is apparent that not only is it a busy intersection with increasing traffic but it is an intersection that sees a lot of pedestrian flow back and forth, as well as those who park in order to go along and visit the beautiful Battunga Park.

The good news is that the Regional Roads and Infrastructure Fund is established, with $315 million over four years, and it has been established with 30 per cent of mineral and petroleum royalties paid into the fund. The fund will be used to maintain and improve the performance of regional and remote transport networks. This is making good on yet another commitment that has been made by this new Marshall Liberal government. I commend the residents of Meadows for the petition and the government for its good work in prosecuting its agenda early in this 54^th parliament.