Question Time

Regional Roads

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (14:30): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier advise how much additional debt will be required to fund the remainder of the Princes Highway upgrade due beyond the forward estimates?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:30): No, I don't have that information with me at the moment. It's pretty simple: we have a program to recover the situation that we inherited from the previous government. There is a backlog of important roadworks that needs to be done.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Some people say that they would like us to move faster. Those same people didn't do the work when they were in government. It's not like you can just turn up, get into government and then a year later—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —have shovels in the ground. This is the most important infrastructure project in the history of the state—the north-south corridor—and that is why we have to make sure that we get it right. I am absolutely convinced that the Minister for Planning, Transport and Infrastructure—

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order: the question was about the Princes Highway upgrade.

The SPEAKER: Yes, you say it is for debate. I have given the Premier some time to get to the substance of the question. The way I caught it, I believe that it was about how much money to complete the Princes Highway. The Premier is speaking generally about other projects that might be relevant to the budget. I do ask him to come back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As I was saying, we came to government with a deficit of road projects and upgrades that were necessary. I am very proud of the fact that in this budget that has just been released there is $1.1 billion for regional roads, and I know the people of South Australia are extraordinarily pleased about that investment. We think that it is going to go a long way to addressing some of the safety issues we have on our country roads in South Australia. We appreciate that the current road safety issues in regional South Australia are completely and utterly unacceptable, so we will be working through a range of projects.

Unlike those opposite when they were in government, we will be consulting with experts regarding the prioritisation of those projects. That's been difficult in the first instance because we have had to establish InfrastructureSA. They will have input into that prioritisation that we need to go forward with. We have rejected the previous model, which was a range of pet projects around marginal streets in electoral cycles and wasn't serving the people of South Australia well.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Rather than that, we have argued, since 2013 I think, for the establishment of InfrastructureSA, an independent statutory authority to guide those investments. There's a lot of work that needs to be done. We will work through that list in a prioritised way. When we have further announcements to make about the upgrade of country roads, we will bring that to the house.

The SPEAKER: I have given the Leader of the Opposition a fair bit of latitude today. I am now going to warn him. The member for Lee has the call.