Road Upgrades

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:23): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for West Torrens!

Ms LUETHEN: Can the minister please update the house on what the Marshall Liberal government has achieved in fixing our road maintenance backlog?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:23): I thank the member very much for that important question because, boy, wasn't that road maintenance backlog big? They left us with one heck of a mess, but we are getting on with fixing it. Three-quarters of a billion dollars road maintenance backlog left by the previous Labor government: after 16 years, that's what they left this state. We are getting on with it. We are getting on with fixing it.

What does it mean to leave a backlog like that? Well, it means potholes, it means a bumpy ride, it means poor safety implications on the roads that we have and it means wear and tear on people's vehicles—borderline neglect from those opposite to leave our roads in that state. That road maintenance backlog is something, as I said, we are very focused on fixing. That's why coming into government—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: You had 16 years and made a heck of a mess of it, my friend, a heck of a mess—three-quarters of a billion dollars’ worth of mess left behind. But we are getting on with fixing it. That's what happened when the Marshall Liberal government came into office in 2018. We take this road maintenance very seriously. That's why earlier this year we had this put on the Infrastructure Australia priority list. We identified how big a problem it was that was left and we put it on there. We are getting on with it. We have got it identified as of national significance.

So we got on with many of these issues. In fact, we have committed or spent $373 million towards fixing our roads and we are starting to chip away at that road maintenance backlog that we were left. We are putting our money where our mouth is. We are investing more in fixing roads and upgrading roads in South Australia than has ever been seen before. I have to stress that. This year alone, we are investing $90 million on road maintenance across metropolitan Adelaide; $90 million will fix 65 kilometres of roads, which is about 220 lane kilometres. That will support 500 full-time jobs.

They could have done it. They didn't do it. They left the mess and we are fixing it. Earlier this year, we saw works completed on Henley Beach Road, Fullarton Road, Darley Road, Kensington Road, McIntyre Road and Gorge Road. These are roads that hundreds of thousands of people, South Australians, use every day. I could keep listing roads, and I will—more works than ever before, and we are getting on with that job. On these roads, recently completed or underway, let me go through them:

Port Road, outbound from Grand Junction Road to East Avenue;

Marion Road from Henley Beach Road to Richmond Road and Mooringe Avenue to Anzac Highway—vitally important in that section of the community;

Greenhill Road from Glynburn Road to Glen Osmond Road;

Golden Grove Road from North East Road to Park Lake Drive—an important stretch of road;

Salisbury Highway from Elder Smith Road to the Port River Expressway; and

Richmond Road from Marion Road to Grove Road.

The South Eastern Freeway pavement rehabilitation is continuing as you well and truly know, Mr Speaker, because I know you are very supportive of that investment in fixing our roads and fixing the South Eastern Freeway—neglected for far too long.

That's just metropolitan roads. Of course, we are spending $2.8 billion upgrading 4,500 kilometres of country roads. I can't go into all of them now; that list is far too long. I will come back to that at another time. But these are roads again neglected by Labor, and ones that we will be fixing by the end of the year. Get ready for these:

Anzac Highway, outbound carriageway from Marion Road to Morphett Road;

the intersection of the South Eastern Freeway, Portrush Road and Cross Road intersection;

Cross Road from Fullarton Road to the South Eastern Freeway;

Shepherds Hill Road from Northcote Road to Main Road;

Stephen Terrace from North East Road to Payneham Road—and yes, we will be maintaining access to Ninth Street for the Christmas lights;

Crittenden Road from Grange Road to Amanda Avenue;

Glynburn Road from Magill Road to Payneham Road;

Montague Road from Nelson Road to Berryman Drive; and

Payneham Road/Lower North East Road from Laver Terrace to James Street.

We are getting on in fixing the roads—

The SPEAKER: The minister's time has expired.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —that they neglected for so long and we are building what matters no matter how much they don't like it.

The SPEAKER: The minister's time has expired.