Infrastructure Review

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:08): My question is again to the Deputy Premier. Did the state government make any representations to the federal government following the release of the 90-day infrastructure review; if so, what was the nature of those representations? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: In November last year the federal government responded to the 90-day review by cutting funding to multiple South Australian infrastructure projects. Last night's federal budget did not restore funding to some projects, including the Truro freight route and the planned Hahndorf bypass.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:08): We absolutely made representations to the federal government, and I am pleased to report to the house that those representations were successful. What we saw in last night's budget was the restoration of $120 million of federal funding for key intersection upgrades in the Adelaide Hills, in particular at Mount Barker and Verdun. That is as a direct result of the very clear and well-articulated campaign that was made locally by the local member for Kavel, now Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Corrections, and the representations that were made directly to the federal government by the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the member for West Torrens.

Yes, we made representations, and we are pleased that those representations have been successful. I understand there is disquiet in some parts of the community, particularly those parts of the community that were promised the GlobeLink freight bypass, which was scrapped within eight months of the 2018 election. Of course, as a tepid impression of the GlobeLink promise an agreement was entered into for the Truro bypass.

As the minister has said in this place, of course it is regrettable when funding is removed for a project, but I think we can all agree that the traffic benefits, the safety of motorists and the improvements to the local community around Mount Barker and Verdun were very worthy of the state government making representations to the federal government. I think there are two people in particular who deserve the credit for those representations being made, and being made successfully, and that is the member for West Torrens, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, and the member for Kavel. It is really terrific that those representations have been proven successful.