Regional Roads

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Regional Roads. What advice has the minister received regarding risks to roads in the Riverland and Mid-Murray region from anticipated high river flows?

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Roads, Minister for Veterans Affairs) (14:29): First-up, my concerns are with the wellbeing of everybody on the River Murray with the impending river flow rising, etc. and also with the extra water that's going to come down. We all understand that and we all need to be very aware of that.

There are lots of roads in regional South Australia and, with all due respect, I can't be on every road out there to inspect them, but certainly I will take some advice from the department. If the member has any concerns whatsoever, as I indicated yesterday, what we need to do, instead of bringing them into the chamber, is to bring them to the attention of the department if there are any issues they identify out there. We are in a challenging period of time, with the river coming down from the River Murray, for the wellbeing of those communities out there. I know the member for Chaffey wants to talk to me about some other issues, which we will pick up later on.

Can I also ask, if you find anything out there, any issues: please report it to the department through the Traffic Management Centre on 1800 018 313 or to any member in this house. I have indicated before that my office is very open to have any discussions about any issues out there. If at any time at all they want the advice of the Department for Infrastructure (DIT), I am happy to arrange that with the senior management of DIT to explain to members what is happening out there. If we can bring it to the attention earlier, rather than waiting to bring it into the chamber, we can safeguard those people and all the roads out there and also any other issues out there that may be compounding.