Traffic Management

Mr DULUK (Waite) (14:25): Thank you so much, sir. My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister update the house on how the state government is fixing congestion in my electorate of Waite and across all of South Australia?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:25): I certainly can. I would like to thank the member for Waite for his advocacy in this area and also another follicly challenged member, the Minister for Skills, the member for Unley, who also benefits and his constituents benefit very greatly from this announcement and that is $61 million—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, leader and member for West Torrens! The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —to fix the Cross Road and Fullarton Road intersections.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I am trying to listen!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Again, this is what happens when a mature state and federal government sit down together.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: We don't curse. We don't throw ice-creams across the table. We sit down and have a conversation. We talk about the fact that we have a freight corridor and we have—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —an outer ring route that does not work as it should. It does not work as it should, and that's borne out by the facts that are in our Keep Metro Traffic Moving report. It's outlined there in the facts that the RAA has put on the table, that more needs to be done to stop the slowing rate of travel of heavy vehicles and also passenger vehicles going along our inner and outer ring roads. And $61 million to fix a problem intersection is a massive step forward in helping to deliver congestion-busting infrastructure across our state.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: The cacophony, Mr Speaker, does suggest that there is a little bit of angst about the fact that we have been able to move forward on new infrastructure projects maybe in a way that they couldn't. That's what happens when you are mature and grown up and have an adult conversation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: This announcement, together with the north-south corridor, together with Springbank/Goodwood/Daws roads, together with Portrush/Magill roads is sending a very clear message to the electorate that we are a government willing to invest in the infrastructure that's going to support our ambition for higher population growth. The Premier has set down the agenda that we want to be a state that says yes to having more people move here. In doing that, we need to deliver the infrastructure that's going to support that growth and that's precisely what we are doing, and we are doing that in conjunction with the federal government.

There is a broader strategy at play here. There is a strategy to deliver population growth and then a strategy to deliver the infrastructure to support it. This is what governments need to do. This intersection, particularly, has some challenges: 60,000 vehicles a day traverse through this intersection, with 44 crashes having been reported at this intersection over the past five years. This is going to deliver road safety outcomes to the people of the Mitcham Hills, for the people who go up and down busy Cross Road every single day.

This is about supporting population growth. This is about delivering the congestion-busting infrastructure we need. This is also about saving lives. This is part of a broader suite of measures that we have put on the table—

Mr Odenwalder interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Elizabeth is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —and worked on together with the federal government to help deliver this for South Australia. I thank the member for Waite for his advocacy in this regard. We have also put down $20 million for the Mitcham Hills corridor, but dare I say that the works that we are going to do up the hill, including the Blackwood roundabout and also Belair corner that we are looking at at the moment, is that when people get to the bottom of that hill they will now be able to get through that intersection much more quickly. We are here to build the infrastructure to support a growing population and we are extremely proud to do it.

Mr Malinauskas: #SturtMatters.

The SPEAKER: Sturt does matter. The leader is called to order and warned. Member for Kaurna.