Transport Infrastructure

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister update the house on the broader transport and infrastructure initiatives we had planned for the north-east?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:55): I certainly can. Again—

The Hon. A. Piccolo: Have you got the report already? I thought you were waiting for the report in two weeks' time.

The SPEAKER: Member for Light, be quiet. The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. Piccolo: He said in his previous answer, Mr Speaker, that he was waiting for a report in two weeks' time, so where is the report?

The SPEAKER: The member for Light can leave for the rest of question time.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: The report is coming down in a few weeks' time, as I said about 30 seconds ago.

The SPEAKER: The member for Light can leave for the rest of question time, please.

The honourable member for Light having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I thank the member for King. It seems that many MPs on this side of the house want to take me and show me really bad roads around South Australia and then we have to go and fix them.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I did have the good fortune to be out with the member for King looking at a little left-hand slip lane that is actually going to deliver massive road safety benefits in her electorate. It's a little part of the world called Skyline Drive. In last year's budget, $343,000 was committed to deliver the project. I don't need to tell the member for King because she has been there almost every day having a look at it. The project is basically done. We have been able to deliver on the promises that we made to the South Australian people.

But there is more to be done in the north-east. I have spoken to this house previously about Golden Grove Road and our ability to fix that difficult stretch of corridor. About 10,000 vehicles or so traverse that corridor on a daily basis. What we have seen over the preceding decades is that there have been a lot of housing developments in those surrounding suburbs of Golden Grove, Greenwith and the like. What we haven't seen, though, is the infrastructure investment to support it, and that's why it was such a big issue in the lead-up to 2018 for the King community. They did not have the dollars spent on them that they should have and it's why $20 million on the table to deliver an upgrade to Golden Grove is extremely important and so very much needed.

What we have been able to deliver is from north of the intersection, all the way up to what I could call the old Arlington's corner. We are going to deliver this upgrade with proper cycling infrastructure, proper sheltered right-hand turn lanes, as well as a complete upgrade to the road and kerbing infrastructure—everything that people who live in suburban Adelaide would come to expect and should come to expect, that is, a proper functioning road.

This is part of a broader strategy to deliver infrastructure to support population growth. This is what needs to happen. If we build communities, we need to build the infrastructure that goes along with those communities. This is exactly the feedback that I got when the member for King hosted me at a transport forum in her electorate. I don't need to tell the members for Florey or Wright, as they were in attendance on the evening, as well as Councillor Rankine from the Tea Tree Gully council. It was to hear the concerns of locals. The broad feedback that we got from that forum was, 'Thank you so much for getting on with fixing Golden Grove Road. This has been an issue forever and we are glad that we are finally getting on with it.'

We have plans in place. They have been through the Public Works Committee. Construction will begin in the coming months. It will be a difficult 12-month time frame delivering this project and there is going to be disruption for that local community, but my message on the night was to please be patient. The outcome is worth the wait and the ability for people to get to where they want to go from where they are more quickly and safely is going to be the outcome. Can I say that my overall out-take from the night is that people do want to see better public transport in the north-east. People do want to see better road infrastructure, and these are concerns that are very well relayed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —by the member for King, and as we were standing on the side of the road we got honked at, I reckon, every 15 to 20 seconds by people who quite clearly see their local MP as somebody that they know, a face that they love and somebody who is going to deliver for their electorate.