North-South Corridor

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): My question is to the Premier. Why won't major construction on the final stage of the north-south corridor commence for another four years?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:12): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for this question. At the moment, we are embarking upon the largest infrastructure program in the history of this state, and we are very proud of that, but there is a lot of detailed work to be done to make sure that when we spend that money we do it in the best way possible, delivering the best results for the people of our state. We know what happened under the previous regime. They sold projects to the people of South Australia, and the first person they went and saw was the graphic designer. They would go and find out—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —what something was going to—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —look like, and they had all the resources of government to do the detailed design work. Let me tell you, when we came to government the cupboard was bare. There was virtually nothing in that department whatsoever, and so we have been working very diligently to get on top of the—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I'm not quite sure why the Leader of the Opposition is so angry all the time. He has had his reshuffle. He's knifed the people he wanted to get rid of. The poor member for Light, he hasn't even got a seat anymore. It's quite extraordinary, and he is still angry. What will it take to make this guy happy? It's hard to know.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will resume his seat for a moment. The member for West Torrens on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The first point of order is standing order 98. He is not answering the question, sir; he is debating it. And, again, 127, personal reflections on members. He is making personal reflections on the Leader of the Opposition.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. I do indicate that the Premier was responding to interjection. He shouldn't respond to interjection. Those interjections were repeated and they were becoming louder, particularly from the leader, and I warn the leader.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir, and I apologise for responding to interjections. They were loud, furious and increasing in velocity, and I will not respond to them in future. What I will do, though, is respond to the question, which was about the north-south corridor. This is an important project; we were the ones who put it onto the agenda. I remember, from opposition, putting forward the proposal for a continuously flowing north-south corridor and delivering that for the people of South Australia.

We weren't successful. We weren't successful at the 2014 election. When I say we weren't successful, we weren't successful in winning the right number of seats. We did actually win the majority of the vote, but we didn't form a government. What that meant was that we weren't in power for those four years to do the detailed work that was required to complete this multibillion dollar project. That work is being done at the moment. It's being done. We are considering the scenarios that will ultimately come to cabinet, and when we have an announcement to make we will make sure that the people of South Australia know that it's an important project for the future of South Australia.