Flinders Link

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:11): My question is to the Minister for Transport. Can the minister please update the house on the Flinders Link project and how the Marshall government is building South Australia?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:11): I certainly can—

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —and I do note the member for Elder's commitment to this project—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —as I do the commitment from the member for Davenport. This is a fantastic project, a fantastic project that we have been able to make sure continues to go ahead. Certainly, this is something that has been on the books for some time, and certainly there was some amount of money that was provided to get this project off the ground, but the missing ingredient—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Was your blowout!

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —was an actual cost estimate that was realistic and all the money to complete the project. It is not good enough to have half the money or two-thirds of the money: you actually need the full amount of money to deliver this project.

What you also need is engineering advice that details how this project needs to be built. So, when the engineers provide a solution to government that says that we need to upgrade the viaduct structure to make sure that it has high degrees of structural integrity so that there aren't any issues with the project, do you know what we do as a government? We listen to that advice, and we say to the department—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Innovation is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —that it is our job to make sure that we get all the money, all $125 million worth of the money, on the table. So we sit down and use the fantastic relationship that we have with the Morrison government to get on and deliver this project, and for those people in the southern suburbs, especially those on the southern side of South Road who have been looking forward to this for such a long time, the 650-metre extension—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —that is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hurtle Vale is asked to cease vociferating across the chamber, and she is warned. Minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Settle, settle, settle. The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Maybe we need a compass, Mr Speaker. Can I say that this project is also going to unlock another project that this government had to fix and unclutter from the previous government, that is, unlocking $1.5 billion worth of private sector investment at Flinders University.

We as a government have an ambition to grow the number of international students in our state, and to do that we need to build some accommodation to house these international students. Flinders University has put itself on the line to help the government to deliver on this commitment, and we have managed not only to deliver the Flinders Link project, which is going to improve access to the Tonsley line for commuters around the Flinders precinct, especially those people in the member for Davenport's electorate who will now have a connection on that side of South Road to be able to catch the train—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for West Torrens, be quiet!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —but we are also going to see $1½ billion worth of housing development and associated mixed-use development that is going to unlock that area and is going to drive international student visitation to our state. We know that for every international student who comes to South Australia there are tens of thousands of dollars per head of investment in our state.

So the opportunity here was for us to be able to do a deal with Flinders Uni that actually helps to get that project off the ground, to actually get enough money to deliver the Flinders Link extension to get that project off the ground, and actually be there last Friday with the member for Davenport as well as the member for Boothby to turn the first sod on what is going to provide a glimpse into what we can look forward to in the future, and that is a Flinders University hub that includes a train station, that is going to have public transport links to other parts of our network, that is going to be able to deliver for people a quicker and better way—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —to get on a train and get to Adelaide.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: We could not be more proud of the work that we have done in the short 16 or 17 months since we have come to government to deliver for the people of the southern suburbs.