King Electorate Infrastructure Projects

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:25): This year, our government's focus has been steadfastly on keeping us safe, the COVID vaccine rollout and delivering economic recovery for our state. We are creating local jobs. We can see the huge amount of investment and construction happening in and around the electorate of King, which is creating jobs and delivering on our promises to people in King.

I thank my colleagues in the Marshall Liberal government for listening and delivering on the priorities raised by my King community. All around my local area we can see a $254.5 million investment in infrastructure being delivered right now, and that is just on a few of the projects. The state government announced an additional $25 million in funding over two years for the Golden Grove park-and-ride, bringing our total funding for the project to $33 million. This site is now under construction, and everyone can see that driving down The Grove Way.

The aim of this project is to meet demand for the park-and-ride commuters and to increase public transport usage. Excitingly, the new Golden Grove park-and-ride will provide 450 car parking spaces, which will include 10 disability-compliant car parks and provision for secure bicycle storage. Furthermore, the new park-and-ride will provide seven kiss-and-drop parks for the Golden Grove High School community to help us manage the growth in the local school community and improve traffic flow around our three fantastic schools at this site.

Importantly, the project is also supporting 150 full-time equivalent jobs over the course of construction. From the Golden Grove park-and-ride site, you can see the roof going on the new building at the Golden Grove High School. The Marshall Liberal government's $1.3 billion capital works program is supporting thousands of jobs across the state and forms part of the biggest investment into education by any state government in South Australia's history. Our King promise was to deliver a $15.5 million investment in our local high school, creating an average of 38 jobs per year. This will enable Golden Grove High to expand by a large cohort of year 7 students, who will be taught in high school for the first time in term 1, 2022.

Just down the road is the Golden Grove Road upgrade project, which is being delivered by South Australian local business CATCON. Stage 1 is complete, and I continue to receive positive feedback from constituents about the new roundabout, the footpaths and the improved traffic flow. No longer do we need to plant our foot to get from Hancock Road to Golden Grove Road. Under construction right now is stage 2, and roads are expected to be open to traffic by late 2021, weather permitting.

The South Australian Marshall Liberal government has committed $50 million towards delivering stage 1 and stage 2, which includes four key intersection upgrades, which will speed up traffic flow, especially for commuters to Tea Tree Plaza. Stage 2 will support around 70 full-time equivalent jobs over the life of the project.

Lastly, I am so pleased to be able to highlight the investment into returning our local health services for people living in King. Modbury Hospital is undergoing a $98 million redevelopment. We have listened to feedback of people living in the north and north-east, and we are bringing back services. We are easing pressure on our emergency departments, providing access to a higher level of care closer to home. Over 1,378 people have been involved in the construction at Modbury Hospital so far. While Labor downgraded services at Modbury Hospital as part of their failed Transforming Health plan, under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, the Marshall Liberal government is investing into world-class infrastructure and creating jobs.

At Lyell McEwin Hospital, $58 million is being invested to expand and revitalise the emergency department and build an eight-bed mental health short stay unit. The redevelopment set to almost double the capacity of the ED is critical to meeting the increased demand and future needs of our growing northern population. We are listening, we are building what matters in King and we are creating jobs and a stronger economy. We are completely focused on being safe and strong in South Australia.