North-South Corridor

Mr SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): My question is again to the Premier. Did the government consult Infrastructure Australia before deciding to delay completion of the north-south corridor? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr SPEIRS: The Australian government committed to its half-share of the funding of the Torrens to Darlington in February after securing a recommendation from the Infrastructure Australia board that the project should proceed. This was in addition to the positive assurance review by Infrastructure Australia and a final business case commissioned by the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport, which provided advice on a range of issues, including project schedule.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:18): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Unfortunately, however, the leader's question is based on a false premise. The premise of the question, of course, was that we delayed the north-south corridor project—when

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —in actual fact that's what you did. That's what the former government did because, had the former government actually undertaken the work that the minister has referred to and enunciated, then what we would know—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morialta! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Had the former government done the work that was just alluded to, and in fact very deliberately and in a detailed way enunciated to this house by the former minister, had they done that work, this project would be in a far better position than it is today.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: And what we know, of course, is that when it comes to the north-south corridor more generally, those opposite don't have a single thing to show for it, not a single thing to show for it. When it comes to project delivery—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —in respect of the north-south corridor, there is only one side of politics—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —that can actually point to physical infrastructure that has been delivered.

The SPEAKER: Premier, there is a point of order. I will hear the point of order under standing order 134. Member for Morialta?

Mr GARDNER: Standing order 98: debate, sir.

The SPEAKER: Standing order 98, of course, contemplates that the minister—in this case, the Premier—will respond to the substance of the question. The Premier is very early in his answer and also has introduced the ingenious device of commenting on the premise of the question, which does allow him some additional scope as well. As I give latitude to the leader, I also give latitude to the Premier. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. So, as I was explaining to the house, when it comes to project delivery on the north-south corridor, we feel utterly comfortable with our record of delivery. If you go from north to south, it is somewhat of a story: the Northern Expressway; the Northern Connector; the superway project; the Regency to Pym project, which was fully designed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and funded by a former Labor government, then of course there is Torrens to Torrens—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —then we get on to the Gallipoli Underpass, then we get to Darlington, then we get to the duplication of the Southern Expressway—entirely delivered by Labor governments. If we are going to undertake a degree of compare and contrast, what have those opposite got to show for after four years of government? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: So the last four years was a success, wasn't it?

The SPEAKER: Order, member for West Torrens!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Hartley! The member for Hartley is called to order. Member for Morialta?

Mr GARDNER: Sir, with all the latitude in the world, that is debate, pure and simple—standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: There are, of course, substantial interjections from both sides, which I understand is perhaps inciting the Premier to provide a wider response to the house.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: To conclude my remarks, very simply, we are not delaying the project. We are doing what we have always done: getting on with delivering it. But what we have to do on this side of the house is play a lot of catch-up football because, of course, South Australians have had to endure four years of delay when it comes to this, four years of inaction, whereas we are going to get on with the task of doing exactly what we did in 16 years of government—and that is deliver action on the north-south corridor.