Road Network

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (14:39): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister confirm to the house that his department is actively considering combining or aggregating the Joy Baluch Bridge, the duplication of Port Wakefield Road and the overpass of the Copper Coast and Augusta highways into one contract?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:40): I will have to take the detail of that question on notice, except to say that we have looked at various options for how we procure that project. It is fair to say that the principles we want to abide by are ones that, first, deliver good value for taxpayers. We want to make sure that we stretch this dollar further, and with the $200 million we have on the table for Joy Baluch and the $90 million we have on the table for the Port Wakefield duplication and overpass we want to make sure we get the most bang for buck out of those two projects.

The second thing I will say is that we are very keen to get these projects out into the marketplace as soon as possible. We know there are a number of projects coming up for completion towards the end of this year, the Northern Connector being chief amongst those, and we saw the Torrens to Torrens project complete, and we are really keen to make sure we deliver a smooth pipeline of work for industry to be able to deliver.

We have awarded to MMA, essentially McConnell Dowell together with Bardavcol and a number of other professional services, a contract under an alliance tendering model—one, if you talk to McConnell Dowell and Bardavcol, they would say is a fantastic way to be able to deliver a project. We awarded that a couple of weeks ago. The land acquisition and demolition have been underway for some time, and we will see that project kick off in earnest at the end of the year. We really want to make sure that in the first few months of next year both these projects are getting into that early works package stage because we know it is important to maintain that consistent pipeline of work.

The other thing I will say is that there is an opportunity here to make sure we are delivering as much local content as possible. We have an existing industry participation policy that we abide by; in fact, it is something the department is extremely enthusiastic about. It is something that, since we have come to government, we have amended to put greater focus on traineeships and apprenticeships, which we know is extremely important. The opportunity to grow our skills base using government work is also extremely important, and is why we made the decision for projects over, I think, $50 million, off the top of my head, to include greater opportunities for trainees and apprenticeships.

The other part of this that has been in our thinking is very much about how we deliver a procurement model that is as open and transparent as possible and that delivers best value overall. For instance, the former government used an alliance model to deliver the Oaklands crossing, and we are using an alliance model here to deliver the Regency Road to Pym Street section of the north-south corridor.

In relation to Joy Baluch and Port Wakefield, we are very keen to make sure that we deliver on good outcomes and make sure that all of that is balanced, whether that be skills development, whether that be value for taxpayers, whether that be getting this work out into the industry in a quick time frame so that we can deliver that consistent pipeline. Those are all factors that weigh on our decision.