Major Projects Conference

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister inform the house about the SA Major Projects Conference and how the Marshall government is delivering a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:44): I am happy to update the house on the Major Projects Conference that is currently underway. I had the great joy of being able to address that conference this morning, following on from my colleague the Minister for Energy and Mining. He outlined some of the work that is happening in his space. My address was of less a solar and battery nature and much more a dirt, gravel and bitumen nature.

The room was excited to hear about a government that has been serious about creating a pipeline of projects that delivers a strong and stable future for the civil construction industry. I had to update them that the cupboard was pretty bare when we came to office and that at the end of this year major works on three sections of the north-south corridor are coming to completion with no plan for what is going to happen after that time. I also updated them on the work we did last year to put four major projects on the table, all of which start either by the end of this year or early next year, to give the industry certainty that there is a solid pipeline of work going forward.

I was able to outline to them today the benefits of a cooperative relationship between the state and federal governments, delivering huge amounts of money, almost 12 per cent of the national share of road infrastructure funding in the federal budget handed down in February that is again going to push that pipeline of work out further.

The member for Finniss might like to know that we discussed some of the projects that are important to his electorate, such as the Victor Harbor Road duplication, a project that the former government had sitting in the back of its integrated land use plan. They just forgot to do any work to get the project off the ground or get any money committed towards that project.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: There is $90 million on the table to duplicate the Victor Harbor Road—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —down to the member for Mawson's electorate.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: 2026.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Well, 2026 is still quicker than anything that the former government put on the table. I can guarantee to the people of South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mawson is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —that that road project is going to be delivered posthaste, especially with the great advocacy of the member for Finniss. We also talked about some of the road safety treatments that we are putting in place in the member for Finniss's electorate, as well as a pretty specific and special project, one that we again know is for another mess that we are having to clean up after 16 years of regional underinvestment, and that is the $20 million we have on the table towards fixing the causeway down in Victor Harbor.

It is a huge tourist attraction, one that drives people to the South Coast and one that is so important for that community, and it was left to rot—a state heritage item left to rot by the former government. We are now having to pick up the pieces, but, like the good government that we are, investing in regional South Australia, we have put $20 million on the table in the state budget to deliver for that.

What I was able to deliver today to the civil construction industry was confidence to move away from this boom-bust cycle of delivering infrastructure that is expensive. It delivers poor outcomes for the workers and the companies themselves because they do not have longevity or certainty, and it also hits taxpayers because it increases the cost of construction. We have an opportunity to deliver a smooth and consistent profile of projects, especially when we see the north-south corridor as that mammoth project sitting there, that we need to build our infrastructure profile around.

We were able to talk this morning about the fact that we can give 10 years' plus worth of certainty to that industry, which will drive interest in South Australia. It will drive interest in the projects that we put on the table. Most importantly, it will give certainty to civil construction workers who are looking for a future for the next decade rather than just the next 18 months.