Job Creation

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (15:25): My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is creating jobs through its $12.9 billion pipeline of infrastructure works?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (15:26): I would like to thank the determined member for MacKillop for his question and note his absolute passion in delivering jobs for his local community and, right at this very moment, the 50-odd people who are down there working to deliver the Penola bypass.

This is a project that those opposite stalled for years. The federal government was willing to stump up 80 per cent of the funds and all they had to do was say yes, but what did they say? They said no because they do not care about the people of the South-East. That is why the people of the South-East have voted continually for a change of government and now they've got one. And guess what? Now they are getting the Penola bypass that they so richly have deserved for such a long period of time. This is a project that I know is going to help to transform the South-East, especially around Penola, to help return Penola's main street to being a place to get a good cup of coffee and be able to enjoy a beautiful part of South Australia, as opposed to being a thoroughfare for heavy vehicles.

We are delivering thousands and thousands of jobs as part of our record $12.9 billion infrastructure program over the next four years. That is some billion dollars above anything that those opposite could muster while they were in government, and this is what is going to help deliver stimulus to our economy at a time when we are seeing significant headwinds. In fact, there's a phrase that some members opposite keep using, referring to 'a valley of death' in civil construction. Well, the only valley of death in South Australia was when their federal mates forgot to order a maritime vessel for something like the six years that they were in government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Thank goodness for a Coalition government in Canberra delivering jobs in the defence sector. We are delivering a record spend over the next four years and some $3.7 billion of that on road infrastructure, whether that be the some 200 jobs that are being delivered as part of the Alliance model at Port Wakefield and Joy Baluch, those upgrades there, or where we are also in construction at the moment on the Regency to Pym Street section of the north-south corridor. There are some 200 jobs there underway, under construction at the moment. Something we did when we came to government was secure the federal money to actually deliver the project, as opposed to having some fake number in a budget paper, as opposed to actually having the money in the bank account.

The Gawler line electrification, again something that those opposite tried to do for a decade and failed three times, we have actually now been able to deliver, with some 250 jobs out there delivering that project at the moment. What we will see come up very shortly is delivering the duplication to Aldinga on Main South Road. This is a project that I know is very dear to the hearts of everybody in South Australia, especially now in dealing with the aftermath of bushfires on Kangaroo Island.

It was only in the latest budget, in the 2019-20 budget, that the full $305 million to complete that project was actually put inside the forward estimates to deliver that project. We are out there in the field at the moment, undertaking the planning work to get ready to deliver this project.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: You said there would be bulldozers by 2019.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: There were those who were out there trying to create a bit of muck and rake a bit of muck around in relation to the timing of this project, but I can say that we are delivering this project on exactly the same profile that the former government would have otherwise delivered this project, except they didn't put the money in the forward estimates.

The Hon. S.S. Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: For the people of Aldinga, of Sellicks, for the people down on the Fleurieu Peninsula and the people doing it tough on Kangaroo Island, they can know that they have a government that is getting on with the job of delivering important road upgrades for South Australia and delivering thousands of jobs to underpin the South Australian economy.