Goodwood/Springbank/Daws Roads Intersection

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister update the house on the Goodwood/Springbank/Daws roads intersection upgrade now that major works have been completed?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:28): I thank the member for her very important question and we acknowledge that she is a fierce advocate for that project in her local electorate. We know that Labor failed to deliver this after 16 years of government. The member for Elder, in less than four years, has fixed the dogleg, removed the dogleg from this troublesome intersection. For 16 long years Labor did nothing for the people in the south. They had to suffer through this dogleg. The member for Elder gets elected and, bang, this job is done in her first term of a Marshall Liberal government—an amazing achievement.

The 60,000 motorists who use that intersection every day, who were ignored by Labor for 16 long years, had for 16 long years pushed their way through that dogleg, trying to navigate the traffic lights, the tight corners and the unsafe queueing. Shame on those opposite for ignoring those people for so long.

I joined the Premier and the local champion herself, the member for Elder, for this historic occasion on the weekend in the southern suburbs, when the speed limit we announced as of Monday morning went back to 60 km/h for those people who use that intersection—and weren't they happy? The horns were tooting as we were there. It was a great accomplishment. Of course, that ends the major works. There are still some minor works to finish off around that project, but it's delivered months ahead of schedule, much like Regency to Pym, of course, earlier this year.

I will just rattle off some facts about this project because it has been a huge success—first of all, $61 million to remove that dogleg left by Labor. They left it there for 16 years. We come to government and the problem has been fixed. Some 48 full-time equivalent jobs during construction, with more jobs, people working on the construction site there—48 jobs. The 60,000 motorists—I have mentioned that already—who use that every day have the member for Elder to thank for this brand-spanking new piece of functioning infrastructure.

The Marshall government continues to invest in projects and we continue to build what matters for the people of South Australia: road infrastructure and infrastructure right across our state, some $17.9 billion invested in infrastructure in South Australia—

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hurtle Vale!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —and $8.8 billion of that is going to roads and public transport and creating jobs in the process. Our investment is a very worthwhile project in that upgrade for the Goodwood/Springbank/Daws roads intersection. It was a notorious problem: 35 crashes, with 11 of them being casualty crashes over the last five years. How Labor saw fit to ignore that for 16 years is beyond me. That said, those on the other side of the house have form in ignoring road projects, especially in our regions.

The Marshall government has invested close to $3 billion in fixing 4,800 kilometres of roads, the equivalent distance of driving from Adelaide to Brisbane and back again and then to Melbourne as well. That's how much road infrastructure we are improving right across our state. Of course, when we came to government a $750 million road maintenance backlog was left after 16 years of Labor.

The former Treasurer, the current shadow minister for infrastructure, hated spending money on our roads and he let that backlog build up. Actually, I don't know if he hated spending money on our roads or if he was just incompetent. I don't know which one it was, but either way he did not deliver for the people of South Australia like the member for Elder has. We know that those opposite arc up when we raise this fact, how they let South Australians down for so long, but we are moving on and delivering projects.

Can I also say that, as part of this project, it was great to be with the member for Elder and the Premier again to acknowledge the 100-year anniversary of the first land sales in Colonel Light Gardens, one of the most iconic suburbs in Adelaide. The member for Elder did a great job in gathering her community and celebrating this wonderful suburb in her area. There are still some minor works to finish off. Of course, the member for Elder is working hard on a new public art piece that will go to finishing this project as we build what matters for the people of South Australia.

The SPEAKER: The time for the answer has expired. Before I call the member for—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for West Torrens, I call to order the member for Hurtle Vale. I call to order the member for Kaurna.