Strzelecki Track

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister advise the current works being carried out on the Strzelecki Track, including the total amount of the sealed and unsealed sections of the track, and the timeframes for the completion of the works? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain a bit further.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: I have had numerous phone calls regarding comments that have been made that there will be no more sealing of the Strzelecki Track. I just want to get this clarified today.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:28): The Strzelecki Track is a very important project, something that was begun under the previous Weatherill government, continued under the Marshall government, supported at the federal level by both political parties. It is an important lifeline to the Cooper Basin and to Queensland, and it is an important part of regional South Australia. It is 472 kilometres long, and it links towns like Lyndhurst and Innamincka in the north-east of the state with vital supply lines. Of course, it is a vital link to our oil and gas facilities in the Cooper Basin.

We have sealed about 40 per cent of the track, but we are facing tremendous hurdles with weather. Weather is causing lots of problems for us on the track. Rumours that we are ceasing the sealing project is just not true. Of course we are going to continue it. It is an important part. I am personally committed to it, the government is committed to it, we want to see it done.

I know there are members on both sides of this chamber who know the importance of sealing the Strez. We have problems in getting materials there. I have heard some proponents tell us—and indeed Rowan Ramsay has spoken to me personally about there being adequate road base nearby on the Strez. The department is not quite sure about the use of some of that road base. There are extreme costs.

We are doing a spray seal on the Strez because we are trying to do so much of it and I know that some members have very strong views about the impacts of spray seal. When it's done properly it can work well, but we are dealing with some pretty extreme conditions. We are committed to continue doing that work. I am going to make sure I try to keep the house impacted.

I have to say, to give you some impacts of flood events on the Strzelecki, from September 2020 through to August of this year, there have been 50 separate weather incidents that have stopped work, four of which resulted in significant flooding and damage to both the sealed and unsealed sections of the road. So we are dealing with some pretty tough conditions in some pretty remote parts of South Australia.

These events have led to the track being closed for 119 days and a further 230 days when restrictions were in place while the track was progressively being reopened. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily dumped significant rainfall across the Cooper Basin on 4 and 5 February of this year. Between 65 millimetres of rain was recorded at Moomba and 142 millimetres of rain was recorded at Innamincka, resulting in the closure of the track and Adventure Way from Innamincka to the Queensland border. So we are dealing with some serious rain events that are causing us a lot of problems.

Even the unsealed sections of the road still require maintenance. We are trying to do three things: (1) repair parts of the sealed sections that have been damaged through weather events; (2) we are having to repair and maintain the unsealed sections of the road until we can get the sealed sections done; and (3) we are rolling out the sealing of the entire track. Those three pieces of work are causing extreme delays for us, but we are committed and we are hoping for better weather.

The unfortunate thing for us is that the bureau is telling us, as are our internal predictions on the weather, that we are going to have a very wet spring and that the La Niña rain events are going to cause a lot of weather events for us in spring leading into summer. That's good news for a lower bushfire risk potentially but, of course, it is going to mean a lot more weather events when we are hoping to have some drier weather to do some of these roadworks in the South-East, across Eyre Peninsula, Upper Mid North and, of course, on the Strez. We are hoping for better conditions, but if those conditions don't improve I think we are up against it.