Election Commitments

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): My question is to the Premier. Why did the Premier tell the house his policy was to investigate a bike trail? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Only moments ago the Premier told this house that his policy at the 2018 election was to investigate a bike trail, when in fact it says and I quote:

What we'll do

If elected in March 2018, a Marshall Liberal Government will invest in developing a world-class tourism cycling trail from Adelaide to Melbourne, working alongside the Federal and Victorian Governments to have it link with other existing bike trails all the way through to Melbourne.

Is the Premier just making things up again?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:42): I am more than happy to take this question on behalf of the government. We certainly said we would invest in exploring that trail. We undertook the study, we undertook investment, as we said we would, and it was determined that the sector, those who are passionate and interested and know about bike trails, understood and had reached the conclusion and shared that with the government that those large multiple-day bike trips are really falling out of favour.

So this government decided to look at other opportunities to invest in bike trails and infrastructure right across the state, opening up areas that had been locked up before, locked up by the previous government, because they were strangely ideologically opposed to getting into some of these areas and for other reasons that they just couldn't be bothered, or they didn't have the money because they had cut the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Department for Environment and Water and its predecessor agencies' budgets by some 60 per cent. So when you have cut the budgets that much, you don't actually have the capacity to do these things.

The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order: debate. The question was: why did the Premier tell the house his policy was to investigate a bike trail? That was the question.

The SPEAKER: The minister is making a reasonable attempt to answer the question. I will allow him some latitude but bring him back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Really, the investment was around the investigation, and the investigation showed that people wanted investment elsewhere, investment in mountain biking, an incredibly dynamic growing sport, and that's exactly what we are doing.

I was with the Minister for Energy and Mining up in his electorate recently looking at the Southern Flinders Ranges, where we are investing hugely in outdoor adventure and particularly mountain biking. In fact, first off, we opened a new bike trail that goes from Melrose to Booleroo Centre and then turned a sod for the next stage of that bike trail that goes from Booleroo Centre down to Laura, or heading in that direction, with the eventual aim that it will connect up through to the Clare Valley and transform that part of the region.

That goes on top of further investment that we are doing in the Southern Flinders Ranges around an epic loop trail, an international attraction taking people up through areas like the Wirrabara Ranges and Mount Remarkable through to Alligator Gorge and Wilmington, connecting those different landscapes together—Beetaloo Reservoir—and activating them, bringing them to light because we know that when we invest in adventure-based infrastructure, like walking trails, hiking, rock climbing facilities and particularly mountain biking and cycling infrastructure, we draw people in to the regions.

The Minister for Recreation and Sport, along with the member for Davenport and myself, headed down to Glenthorne National Park on Monday to take a look at the new BMX facilities, the Sam Willoughby BMX track, an incredible project being invested in by the Marshall Liberal government in Glenthorne National Park. We saved it from Labor's housing plans and we are bringing it to life as a conservation and recreational precinct. It was so good to go up there onto those pieces of infrastructure—

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated. Leader.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: I again rise on a point of order: debate. The question was really clear: why did the Premier tell the house his policy was to investigate a bike trail? The minister continues to evade answering the question. It is very straightforward, sir.

The SPEAKER: Minister, I am going to uphold the point of order and bring you to the question. There is one minute remaining.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: They hate good news. The long and the short of it is we are investing in infrastructure all across the state. The cycling sector didn't want this and so we are moving in another direction.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader, the question is concluded. I anticipate you are moving to the next question.