Economic Stimulus Package

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:13): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. How many infrastructure projects under the government's initial $350 million stimulus package announced by the Premier on 11 March have commenced?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for the question. I want to outline how it is that we came to the list of projects the government sought to put as part of their first $350 million stimulus package. Keep in mind, this package, the first in the nation, was put together at a time when this government was looking at what was coming forward. We knew that COVID-19 was going to impact our community but the exact restrictions that were going to be in place in the community at the time, or the ramifications on our economy, were not yet known, but we sought to act immediately because we knew that there was going to be an impact.

That first $350 million worth of stimulus was all around finding projects that could be done within a defined period of time. In fact, prior to putting that stimulus package together I think I spoke to a question from the opposition in this house around what demands we had had from the federal government around stimulus projects. In fact, I know that the Premier had discussions with the Prime Minister and I had discussions with my federal counterpart, minister Tudge, in relation to what projects could be put on the table.

When it comes to infrastructure, projects often have long lead times. We know that previous stimulus packages in response to previous crises—and I am thinking now about lessons learned from the GFC—really help to inform us about what types of projects we would undertake. In order to get this work out within the time frame in which it is needed, and that is as soon as possible but certainly whilst there are restrictions in place and our economy isn't in this hibernating state, we focused on projects that required no land acquisition, very little design work, little community consultation, as well as truncated procurement processes, all designed to shorten the time frame that it normally takes to get a project from its idea through to its design, to its funding—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order. Please be seated. The point of order is for—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: May I ask the minister how many have commenced?

The SPEAKER: —debate.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Debate, sir.

The SPEAKER: Relevance, debate. With respect to the minister, I understand that he is providing relevant preamble background; however, I have let the minister go for about two minutes. The question was very specific so I ask him to come back to the substance of the question. He is talking about lead times and he is getting close so I will ask him to come back to the substance of the question.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Playford, be quiet. The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: As I was saying, the projects that we chose were designed very much around those that could be delivered as soon as possible. In fact, as we announced this road maintenance portion of the stimulus package—road maintenance being an activity that can be undertaken and ticks all the boxes that I have just outlined—it helped to form the package of works we put together. Road rehab, reseal, maintenance projects and shoulder-sealing projects are ones that fit all of those criteria. We have already put out tenders for two of those projects. One is—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: One is in relation to a 28-kilometre capping project on Adventure Way in the member for Stuart's electorate, and the second is in relation to a midlife cycle refurbishment of the Heysen Tunnels. Those tenders have already gone out but, in addition to that, what is also being worked through at the moment—although I don't have the complete detail of it—is our desire to use existing procurement processes that have already been undertaken in regional South Australia and be able to extend those to include existing contracts and put into those the projects that are part of that first stimulus package of $350 million.

There is considerable work underway and we will see that work get out into the community as soon as possible. In fact, the work that we have done in conjunction with the federal government shows that South Australia as a jurisdiction has actually responded faster with its capital projects than any other jurisdiction around the country.