South Road Upgrade

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (15:41): The biggest issue in my electorate right now is, of course, the future of South Road and what it means for my constituents. This is not a flash in the pan hot topic of the moment: this is an issue of key concern for my local area—and it will be for the next decade.

For months, I have been sitting down at kitchen tables of hundreds of local people, hearing their stories, understanding their difficulties and shock, their feelings of sadness and despair, and even on occasion bearing witness to their tears. I have heard what their homes mean to them. With the personal, the professional, the social and the financial impacts of the acquisition and their feelings of loss and shock and even confusion at the lack of reliable and full information at this difficult time, I have done my best to assist them with accurate information and personalised support at every turn.

The people of Badcoe are not the beneficiaries of the tunnel. Our suburb will be divided by an open-cut chasm and loomed over in parts by an aerial roadway. Although the upgrade of South Road is necessary, there are so many questions about how decisions were reached, who was consulted and even the very basic decision of what is even being planned to be built by the government. So very many important questions are unanswered.

In late September and early October, as the latest round of compulsory acquisitions was made public via postings on social media, I requested an urgent briefing from the minister because I want accurate information I can share with the people I am elected to represent and I want to be able to advise and support them at this time. I have done that, despite the lack of interest in the same from the minister. I have been sent absolutely no information at any stage from the department or the minister as the elected representative for this area, despite repeated requests. To me, that sends a powerful message to people in my area about the regard this government has for them.

The questions my community have are in no way secret, and I have spoken about them repeatedly in this place. Today, I place a few more of my community's questions on record yet again in the hope that they might be answered. The big question, of course, and the primary question for Badcoe people is: where is the reference design and why is the government not releasing it?

Home owners, business owners and tenants have been told their properties are being acquired on occasions throughout most of this year, and many have now been transferred into government ownership, yet people still do not know why their land is targeted and what is proposed to be built. If a person was wishing to challenge the necessity of their land being taken by the government, right now they could not because they do not have this critical information.

Where is the concept design for the area north of the Gallipoli Underpass, and why will the government not publish that? We know they have it because some residents selectively have been shown the image while others have not. This is not the way to inform the community, although it is the way that the government are repeatedly seeking to do business. Where is the map of the properties to be acquired north of the Gallipoli Underpass and along Anzac Highway? It is critical that this is released.

As the local MP, I have more than a handful of residents and business owners coming to me saying they have had no communication from this government about whether they are being acquired or not. Many of them live next door to acquired properties and suspect they are on the chopping block, but when they call the so-called information line, they have had no definitive answer and are told to call back later or that someone will call them back in several weeks. This map must be released so our community is informed and can access support and information at this tough time.

I am pleased to have been and to continue to be an effective advocate for the interests of those I am elected to represent. Even from opposition, I have challenged poor terms for my local residents and achieved swift change in relation to South Road. When local residents in Glandore raised with me that they were told by DIT that they would have to pay market rent to the government after being forced to sell their homes to the government, I took up that fight. I hit the airwaves, and 48 hours later DIT advised my constituents in Glandore in writing that they would no longer need to pay market rent to the government, and that is a win for my community.

However, as land acquisitions have been commenced in the third and, hopefully, final round in Marleston and Ashford, those residents are again being told by DIT that they will need to pay the government rent after their homes are acquired if they remain in their homes. How can that be? Why would there be one rule for one suburb and a different rule for another suburb? Are the DIT officials ill informed or are there seriously different policies for different suburbs across my electorate? These and so, so many more questions need to be answered and I call on this government to start answering some of them.