Roadworks Funding Cuts

The Hon. D.R. CREGAN (Kavel) (15:15): Members will know that the federal government recently announced it would no longer fund the Hahndorf township improvement and access upgrade, Truro bypass works, the Woodside intersection upgrade and other important roadworks programs. Across Australia, 50 programs have been affected.

As a result, the proposed Mount Barker Freeway interchange duplication was cut. The Mount Barker interchange is failing. Within a generation, Mount Barker will be the largest city in South Australia outside Adelaide. The pressure on the interchange is plainly rising and there are many mornings and evenings where I see it myself, failing before our eyes, and where there are many unsafe traffic movements.

There are, in short, already significant safety risks. I understand the Department for Infrastructure and Transport has informed us that between 2016 and 2021, there were 31 crashes, 24 of which involved casualties at the interchange. It cannot be rightly said that this project and many others do not meet the relevant eligibility criteria for national infrastructure investment by the commonwealth.

Let me put it this way in the strongest possible terms: if a bushfire threatened Mount Barker, the intersection would be almost instantly overwhelmed by traffic. As well, the Verdun interchange works, Hahndorf township works and works for the proposed upgrade of the Onkaparinga Valley, Tiers Road and Woodside Road intersection have been cut. In my view, these are also vital projects.

The Hills has been let down by both major parties. First, GlobeLink was abandoned by the Liberals, and now the Hahndorf township project has been abandoned under Labor—you just cannot trust them. I welcome the commitment by the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport to keep state funding on the table for the interchange upgrade at Mount Barker and I appreciate the minister visiting the interchange with me to see it first hand.

I call on the opposition to also commit funding. It is a political joke to criticise the funding cuts but then not make a funding commitment of your own. You just cannot have it both ways. As an Independent, I will be equally harsh on any party that fails my community, as my community would expect me to be, whether that party is in government or opposition.