Golden Grove Intersection Upgrades

Mrs PEARCE (King) (14:37): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. How is the Malinauskas Labor government undertaking works to improve motorist and pedestrian safety in Golden Grove?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:37): The member for King is a pretty fierce advocate, and I've got to say I am getting a bit sick and tired of her bothering me constantly about Golden Grove and about all the works. I should issue this apology in advance: you are going to be seeing a lot of DIT employees and a lot of contractors doing a lot of work in Golden Grove, and that is because of the advocacy of the member for King.

Works have begun to install turn right arrows for motorists—I hope I am not mispronouncing this—from Aeolian and Atlantis drives onto The Grove Way to improve safety and the ease of movement at a very busy intersection. The upgrade is much needed and the member for King has put in extraordinary levels of advocacy to the government. There was an unfortunate fatality that occurred at this intersection earlier this year, which has led to a lot of advocacy by the member for King on behalf of her community, and the government has listened.

I have got to say, even the former member for King wrote to me about this intersection. Let's compare what both governments have done. In the previous four years, that community was not given these upgrades. The current member for King got elected and within two years we are going a step further. The government is also upgrading other intersections as a result of the advocacy. I have got to say, it is a credit to her and the work that she is doing for her local community.

The government is upgrading the intersection of The Grove Way and The Golden Way to create an additional right turn lane from The Grove Way to The Golden Way for traffic heading west. As of today, works have started on yet another of the member for King's election commitments in Golden Grove. To improve safety and accessibility in the local area, works are being undertaken to upgrade pedestrian facilities at the junction of The Grove Way and The Grove Shopping Centre entrance—a local member of parliament who actually listens to their constituents and can get results, unlike the previous member.

To improve safety and accessibility in the local area, the works are being undertaken to upgrade pedestrian facilities at the junction—maintaining our commitment of connectivity for local communities—of The Grove Way and The Grove Shopping Centre. Not only will these upgrades help residents walking to and from the shops but they will also improve the safety of many students who cross this road at this location, including students at Gleeson College, Golden Grove High School and Pedare Christian College.

These works are being delivered as I speak. These aren't promises, these aren't commitments, this is work that the member for King is actually getting done because she is a hardworking local member of parliament who is, quite frankly, belligerent to ministers and I will be glad to get this done. I have to say the advocacy has been pretty intense. The local community is working very hard to make sure that the local MP is given the information she needs to feed up to government and the government is listening.

It is important to note that infrastructure is a great way of keeping communities connected, keeping communities moving and keeping communities safe. This government is committed to all of those things, whether it is the north-south corridor or working on pedestrian-activated crossings and intersection upgrades in Golden Grove. We are looking at infrastructure holistically across our entire state. It is not based on votes, it is based on me. What is important here is that finally the people of Golden Grove have an advocate who actually cares and gets results.