Regional Roads

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Transport. Can the minister explain what response times are built into the contract between Fulton Hogan and the state government for repairs on state government regional roads? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr BELL: ABC South East reported, on 11 September, that local resident Jim Pick had his tyre and wheel completely destroyed by a large pothole on his way from Mount Gambier to Millicent. Other listeners called in and commented that they, too, had hit potholes around our region and that response times are very poor.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:46): Members opposite who are agreeing with the member for Mount Gambier might want to apologise to him for the privatisation program during the previous four years—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: They say, 'Oh, please!' Well, the South-East—

Ms Savvas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Newland!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —was a government-maintained project. They were outsourced to Fulton Hogan. They took the cheapest possible price they could. Roads have deteriorated. Fulton Hogan are constantly asking—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Florey is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —for changes to the contract. I point out that when members opposite took over the treasury bench the road maintenance budget, the road maintenance backlog—

The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order from the member for Morialta.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Thank you, sir. Standing order 98: this is debate.

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully. We have not passed four minutes, although I am not necessarily sure that time is exactly right. In any case, we are early in the answer and I will listen carefully.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The backlog, by the time members took over, was a backlog of maintenance of well under a billion dollars, and by the time they left office it was close to $2 billion—and here they are, 15 months later, saying, 'Why haven't you fixed what we didn't do and made worse in the four years we were in office?'

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The member for Mount Gambier is right—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He is absolutely right. The people of the South-East know that the road maintenance outsourcing has been a failure. They see it every day when they are driving on their roads. We are working through this problem. I agree that the time taken to fix these potholes is too long. There are budget implications here, of course, because of the way the tender process was conducted by members opposite. Quite frankly, the whole thing has been—

Mr Whetstone: How long have you been in government?

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Is it 15 months, 17 months?

An honourable member: It's 18 months.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Almost 18 months, sir. So, yes, I can't fix, in the 18 months that we have been in office, what members opposite let deteriorate over four years—but we are working through it, bit by bit.

I say to the member for Mount Gambier that it is a priority of mine. The member for Stuart and I are working on how best to tackle this problem, because it is a very, very large problem. There are contracts in place that we need to either supplement or improve, because the scenario you have just described to the house is unacceptable. Our regional communities do it tough enough as it is without having to live with the legacy of a failed privatisation by members opposite.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Chaffey, you are on a final warning, and you cannot describe other members as a 'joke'. It is very close to the line, and 137A is very imminent.