Regional Roads

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (14:15): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister please advise my outback constituents of the number of road maintenance gangs that should be operating in zone 4 under the current contract? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain further.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: I have been contacted by several people regarding the very long periods for road maintenance by the contractor, with the information being given to me that there are only two gangs operating in the whole of zone 4, which covers the northern part of the state, and that covers the whole of the unincorporated areas of South Australia.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:15): Zone 4 has six crews, so I just get that out of the way quickly. I want to thank the member for Stuart for his question. He is passionate about regional South Australia. He knows regional roads better than most, being a former regional roads minister. The work that he did to set the state up not only in Port Pirie but regional roads in and around the Mid North of our state and outback areas is a testament to his commitment to his local community, and I want to thank him for it.

Zone 3, the regional north contract, covers the Far West, Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Mid North and sealed roads under the department's care, control and management in the out of councils area, plus Coober Pedy and Roxby Downs council areas—it is a massive area. This includes roads along the Stuart Highway and the Lincoln Highway. Zone 3 is contracted to DM Roads. Zone 4, outback contracts, covers all unsealed roads under the department's care, control and management within the out of councils area in the outback. That zone is contracted to Service Stream.

Across both zones, crew numbers vary during the year depending on seasonal work demands. Zone 4 has six crews: three dry grading crews, two wet grading crews, one routine maintenance crew, which does signs, cleaning grids, etc. As I mentioned earlier, additional contract crews are put on as required. Zone 3 has 11 crews: four based in Port Pirie, four based in Port Augusta, two based in Port Lincoln and one based in Ceduna. Again, additional crews are contracted as required.

Road maintenance is of critical importance to our government. Labor knows that our roads are the arteries of our economy, and we are investing heavily. In the most recent budget, Treasury increased road maintenance funding across the forward estimates, which is welcomed. But as I have said previously in this place, we have only 7 per cent of the nation's population, 10 per cent of the nation's roads, and about 5 per cent of the funding required to maintain them and upgrade them. We are doing as much as we can with every valuable dollar we have to try to make that road maintenance dollar go further, and it is difficult.

We do make sure and the department and its contractors continue to undertake regular inspections of these zones, with any critical defects repaired as soon as possible to ensure that the roads are kept in a safe condition, especially for road users in outback communities. But the inspections are only as good as the frequency of them, and we do that as often as we can. It is important that people do report defects as well, and we will act on them.

I want to thank the member for Stuart for his advocacy and his hard work. What people don't see is the work he does behind the scenes in advocating to the government and to the department on behalf of regional communities. In fact, the entire crossbench does an exceptional amount of work—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Well, unlike you, he didn't have to resign in disgrace. Remember that, when you resigned in disgrace because of an ICAC inquiry? Remember that?

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: No, that's right. I have never resigned in disgrace. You have. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. You have resigned due to an ICAC investigation. Minister Brock is held in high regard by everyone in this parliament, unlike the member for Chaffey, who is held in very low regard by everyone in the parliament. I want to thank the member for Stuart for his advocacy on behalf of the people of Stuart and of course the broader outback communities.