Regional Road Vegetation Clearance

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:36): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Will the minister consider updating vegetation clearance measurements to take into account the current maintenance schedules and the growth of vegetation along our regional roads? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr McBRIDE: I have been contacted by a truck driver in my electorate who is extremely concerned about trees that hang dangerously close to his vehicle. The constituent drives semitrailers and has explained that on numerous roads—including Old Kalangadoo Road to Penola, Penola Road to Naracoorte, and the road back to Naracoorte and Robe as well—the trees pose a safety risk. The constituent believes the current maintenance isn't enough and that road users are being put at risk by overhanging branches.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:37): That is an excellent question, and I know that the member would not be raising it unless there weren't legitimate concerns about that. I thank him for it, and I thank him for bringing it to the house for the parliament's attention, because it is an important issue.

The advice I have received is that the current vegetation clearance envelope that we have in the South-East is sufficient, but given the member's concerns I will ask the department to give me an update on whether or not we need to increase it. I think there is a backlog of road maintenance across our regional roads. It has been quite an issue for us, especially after the privatised contract in the previous parliament, which has put us at quite the disadvantage.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia: Outsourcing, you mean.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Outsourcing? Oh, it's different from privatisation, is it?

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia: Ask the electorate.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you very much, I appreciate my young friend giving us a definition he will accept of privatisation. To give the member opposite some context here, there are 23,000 kilometres of road that we are maintaining and a lot of vegetation clearance is necessary. There are specific issues in the South-East, and I will now investigate the roads that he has raised. I thank him for bringing it to my attention. I will get onto it as quickly as I possibly can. I do note some members want more vegetation clearance to make our roads safer for trucks; others do not.