Supply Bill 2025

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 April 2025.)

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (15:49): I continue my remarks from yesterday. Importantly, we are not just addressing immediate needs, we are also reforming the system to make it fairer by expanding access to concessions for tenants and share houses and ensuring more people can access the support they need. We are modernising our social safety net to reflect how people actually live today. This is about dignity, it is about inclusion and it is about ensuring that no South Australian is left behind.

In November 2024, the South Australian government announced a $9 million redevelopment of the Marion Ambulance Station located on Sturt Road. As the busiest ambulance station in Adelaide's southern suburbs, this project will replace the existing facility with a modern, fit-for-purpose station enhancing emergency response capabilities for the surrounding communities.

It is with great pride that I share the significant advancements and investments made by the South Australian government at the Flinders Medical Centre and its surrounding precinct since July 2024. These initiatives are pivotal in enhancing healthcare services for our community. This includes a major expansion and upgrade of the Flinders Medical Centre.

A cornerstone of our commitment is the unprecedented $498 million redevelopment of the Flinders Medical Centre, jointly funded by the state and commonwealth governments. This project includes the construction of a seven-storey acute services building set to deliver 98 additional clinical spaces. This expansion will encompass two 32-bed adult inpatient units, an 18-bed medical day unit, a 16-bed intensive care unit and a dedicated CT scanner suite. Construction commenced in April 2024, with completion anticipated by December 2028. To facilitate this development, the main entrance of the hospital was closed in October last year, redirecting access through the northern entrance.

In response to growing healthcare demands, we have undertaken several initiatives to increase bed capacity. A new 20-bed inpatient ward was established by repurposing former administrative offices, providing acute care services for older South Australians. An additional 10 acute mental health beds are scheduled to open at the Margaret Tobin Centre in 2025. Overall, these efforts contribute to a total of 160 new beds across Flinders Medical Centre and the Repat Health Precinct.

In partnership with Flinders University, we are investing in the Flinders Healthcare Centre—a state-of-the-art 10-storey facility within the Flinders Health Precinct at Bedford Park. This $300 million project, with $150 million contributed by the federal government, aims to provide 10,000 health appointments annually, accommodate up to 100 patients simultaneously and facilitate the graduation of approximately 1,300 health professionals each year. These strategic investments underscore our unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality, accessible healthcare services to the residents of southern Adelaide.

No great society is built without great infrastructure. This Supply Bill continues to fund the vital services and networks that underpin our daily lives—from transport to water, energy to health care. In particular, I want to highlight our investment in water and sewer infrastructure, which will unlock over 40,000 home allotments across the next four years. This is fundamental. For too long, systemic failures in connecting Adelaide's northern developments have stifled housing growth and frustrated residents. We are fixing that. We are laying the foundations—literally—for future homes, future communities and future opportunity.

The Majors Road interchange project is advancing steadily and remains on schedule for completion by the end of this year. Eighteen steel bridge girders have been installed, and the concrete deck poured for the widened section of the Majors Road Bridge has been completed. Night works occurred in March 2025, leading to temporary speed restrictions on the Southern Expressway near Majors Road. These restrictions will lift soon as the road surface develops appropriate traction for safe driving.

The project includes shortening on-off ramps by approximately 100 metres and relocating the Patrick Jonker Veloway to improve sightlines. Additionally, powerlines along Majors Road have been moved underground to allow for increased landscaping and tree planting. The construction phase is supporting approximately 245 full-time equivalent jobs annually, contributing to the local economy.

The Morphett Road tram grade separation project is part of the broader $870 million Tram Grade Separation Projects initiative, jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian governments. This project aims to replace the existing level crossing at Morphett Road with a tram overpass, to enhance safety and reduce congestion.

Major construction commenced in late 2024, with the level crossing removal expected to be completed by the end of 2025. To facilitate construction, the Glenelg tramline will be partially closed between Moseley Square and South Terrace from 4 August this year to late January next year. Substitute buses will operate during this period to maintain public transport connectivity for our community.

Works on the Morphett Road and Anzac Highway intersection are set to begin soon, aiming to improve traffic flow and safety in the area. The project is expected to significantly reduce delays for the approximately 25,600 motorists who traverse the level crossing daily when boom gates can be down for up to 16 minutes each hour during peak times. This is a project that has proved very popular across Gibson.

The Supply Bill 2025 is not just a ledger of incomes and expenditures, it is a story. It is the story of a government that listens, leads and delivers. It is a reflection of our values: that every person deserves a fair go; that the economy should serve people, not the other way around; and that we are strongest when we act with compassion, courage and clarity. From housing to industry, cost of living to clean energy, we are meeting the moment with bold ideas and practical action. So today I support the Supply Bill 2025 not just as a routine matter of finance but as a meaningful step toward a stronger, fairer and more resilient South Australia. I commend the bill to the house.

Mr BATTY (Bragg) (15:56): I rise to speak on the Supply Bill, which of course the opposition will be supporting, but it is a good opportunity for me, about a month out from the state budget being delivered, to talk a little bit about what I would like to see in there from a local perspective, some of my local priorities that we have been fighting for over the past few years in the eastern suburbs.

In particular, there are three key priorities I would like to talk to this afternoon. The first is our ongoing campaign to get trucks off our local roads, including Portrush Road and Glen Osmond Road in my electorate. The second is the need to invest in schools in the eastern suburbs, both school capacity and ageing school infrastructure at some of the best schools in the state that need to be shown some love. The third is a key focus on investing in open space and spaces for sport and recreation for many of our local sporting groups that are simply searching for a home. I hope to be able to support them through this budget process as well.

Turning to the first of those issues, which is an ongoing campaign to get trucks off Portrush Road, I made a commitment three years ago when I was elected that I would fight every day to try to get heavy vehicles off Portrush Road and off Glen Osmond Road. I am strongly of the view that our local roads are just not appropriate freight routes, and I know that because the problem is very clear to see.

We have about 650,000 heavy vehicles coming down the South Eastern Freeway every year. We know the large majority of them at the moment choose to travel down Portrush Road when they reach the bottom of the South East Freeway. That is over 1,000 trucks thundering down Portrush Road each and every day, going past the things that people in my electorate see every day and the things that I see every day as I drive along Portrush Road.

These trucks are going past things like nursing homes and schools, whether it be Seymour College, Loreto College or Linden Park Primary School, where the pedestrian crossing near the Aldi was recently named one of the most dangerous school crossings in the entire state. They are going past shops, homes and houses. These are all things that do not mix well with B-doubles.

It is not only a road congestion issue, but I also know, particularly in my capacity as the shadow minister for road safety, that it is a really significant road safety issue. It is an accident waiting to happen—indeed, it is an accident that has happened quite often. Only a few months ago there was another major truck rollover at the bottom of the freeway. I think there have been about six or seven major accidents at the bottom of the freeway since 2010, and some of those, sadly, we know have involved fatalities.

What I do not want to do is wait for the next tragedy, the next fatality, before we all wake up and finally take some action on this issue and finally realise—like every other state and capital city in Australia has realised—that our local roads are just not appropriate freight routes. We are the only capital city in all of Australia where we have our major freight route running through our local streets and suburbs, thundering past things like schools and nursing homes and houses.

The good news is that there is a solution. Something that I have been working towards for a very long time now is advocating for a Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass that would see a large majority of the freight coming down Portrush Road redirected before it even reaches the bottom of the freeway. This is something that I have been advocating for since I was first elected to this place. Indeed, it was the first question that I asked in question time to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport a few years ago, and it is probably one of my most recent questions as well.

The good news over the past few weeks is that we have seen some significant advancements in our campaign for a Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass that would see trucks off Portrush Road, with the Liberal Party—both state and federal—committing to a $1 billion bypass that would see thousands of trucks removed from Portrush Road, Glen Osmond Road and Cross Road. We have seen a pledge from the federal Coalition of $840 million towards a Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass and I was very proud to stand with the Leader of the Opposition and announce that the state Liberals, if elected, would also commit $211 million to co-fund the $1 billion bypass that would see thousands of trucks have a more efficient route through the Hills, getting them off our local roads in the eastern suburbs.

What the freight bypass would do is deliver major upgrades along the Monarto to Sturt Highway corridor, including the Truro township bypass. That is the project, of course, that state and federal Labor ripped money out of in recent times—the duplication of the Swanport Bridge, upgrades to the Monarto Interchange and level crossing and critical safety improvements along the freight route. It is a solution that we have been crying out for for a long time now. I feel that people in the eastern suburbs have been talking about this problem for the better part of my life.

It is only now for the first time that we actually have a serious proposal with one political party with some serious money on the table to actually fund it, and construction of the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass could commence from this year if state and federal Liberal governments were elected.

Those opposite, I know, have attempted to confuse this issue a little bit. In recent times they have attempted to appear supportive of a freight bypass, but unfortunately the federal Labor government have only announced half of the funding that is required—some $500-odd million—with the bulk of that funding not being delivered until about four years time. My community does not want to wait that four years to get 50 per cent of the funding and you cannot build half a road, of course, so really a commitment to half a road is no commitment at all.

What we have not seen here in this place is a commitment from the state Labor government to even fund any of this project and that is something that I urge them to consider before the next state budget, because we just cannot wait any longer and have this situation where we have thousands of trucks thundering down my local roads and putting my local community at risk.

We know where those opposite stand on this issue historically. I only need to quote the member for Dunstan last year who stated:

South Australia's a small state and having a bypass is a hugely expensive piece of infrastructure…trucks will always be to some degree on Portrush Road.

The now Treasurer, back in 2017 when he was the shadow treasurer, was interviewed about this issue on ABC Radio and it was put to him whether the trucks will go down Cross Road and the Treasurer said, and I quote, 'Yes, that's right. That's the long-term plan which has been agreed to by federal and state governments, which is currently being funded by the federal and state governments and that's why it's a project priority.' Not quite believing it I think, the journalist replied, 'So you're going to have B-doubles rumbling down Portrush Road and, just for a bit of novelty, rumbling down Cross Road.' The now Treasurer replied at that time, 'It's not a novelty. This is what's in the state's best economic interests.'

I could not disagree more with the member for Dunstan, who seemingly wants to accept a situation where there will always be heavy trucks thundering down Portrush Road, and I could not disagree more with the Treasurer that it is in the state's best economic interests to have heavy trucks thundering down Portrush Road. I urge them, a month out from the budget now, to join with the state and federal Liberal Party in funding a billion-dollar bypass, finally, a serious solution to what is a very serious problem in my local electorate.

The second issue that I want to talk about today is that of school capacity and infrastructure in my local electorate. We have some of the best schools in the state in my electorate and I am enormously proud of them, their leadership, their teachers and, indeed, their students who year after year are often found to be the top one, two, three, four, five schools in the state, but we do have a problem, which is that they are so popular, they are bursting at the seams. It is a good problem to have, but it is a problem nevertheless.

We only have to look at some school enrolment capacity data for particularly the high schools in my electorate to see the nature of the problem. Glenunga International High School, one of the larger schools in the state, and, of course, one of the best schools in the state, has a capacity this year of 2,200, but currently has 2,356 students enrolled. So right now that school is 156 students over capacity. Similarly, Marryatville High School has a student enrolment capacity of 1,600 and current enrolments are at 1,719. So that school is 119 students over capacity right now.

The problem is only projected to get worse, particularly at Glenunga International High School, for example, where we see the enrolment capacity again next year being at 2,200, but the enrolments projected for 2026 are expected to be 2,396—nearly 200 students over capacity next year at Glenunga International High School—and that is in a situation where we are already turning people away from Glenunga International High School. It is subject to a capacity management plan.

I am helping a number of constituents, some of whom live within a stone's throw of the school but are being turned away from Glenunga because it is full. I strongly believe that local kids deserve to be able to go to local schools. We have a capacity problem in the eastern suburbs that we need to invest in to fix. Again, the problem will only get worse under a Labor government that seems intent on building 20-storey and 30-storey towers all around my electorate.

We had this unprovoked and, frankly, unhinged attack on me from the Premier in question time today about me standing up for inappropriate high-rise, high-density development in my electorate. The Premier made some comments about development in Glenside. I note his planning minister has been very careful with what he said, given that the code amendment is currently under consideration by the planning minister. The planning minister is the decision-maker and he has been very careful to say not a lot on the topic, but we had this bizarre outburst from the Premier today about high-rise development in Glenside and, unfortunately, I think, giving my constituents a bit of an insight into what the Labor government is planning in Glenside—perhaps planning to approve this 20-storey tower that my constituents certainly do not want.

The Premier would know that if he came out and listened to people on the ground, if he came out and listened to the community like I have. He characterised me as trying to organise protests at every development in Glenside. There has only been one development in Glenside under this government and it is a 20-storey tower proposal, on top of 1,000 homes that have already gone in there.

The Glenside development could have been an example of a really successful medium-density development, but out of greed at the last minute it seems the Premier is going to try to ruin that best practice example and have a series of high-rise towers in residential Glenside. I ask the Premier in the context of Glenunga International High School, which is the zoned school for Glenside, already being 200 students over capacity: where are all the students living in his towers going to go to school? Again, he would know that is a big concern of my constituents if he came to any of these gatherings that I have organised.

I have gone out and listened to the community, and they tell me that they are very concerned about unrestrained high-rise, high-density infill when it is happening in a context where there is no discussion at the same time about investment in public infrastructure. The schooling is one example, but there is also car parking, traffic and our public transport. The whole development is served by one bus stop and a bus that occasionally shows up. There is no discussion at all about investing in the associated public infrastructure to go with it. It is this unbelievable idea that you can start building high-rise towers and they will just be absorbed by the local community.

The whole area at Glenside was planned pretty carefully on an eight-storey height assumption. All of the planning has been done on that assumption. At the last minute, out of pure greed, the Premier today and the planning minister are trying to change it to 20 storeys, which could potentially go up to as close as 30 storeys under an affordable housing overlay as well. So I think there was very bad news for my constituents coming out of question time today, with the Premier giving some clues about what he might have planned for Glenside.

We will continue to let the Premier and his minister know what we think about it, even if he does not want to hear it. Perhaps it even gets a little bit under his skin; that is our job to do that. It is really those three categories of concerns: no discussion about public infrastructure; secondly, no consideration of character and heritage in our area; and thirdly, just simply being unfair for the 1,000 people who have bought into that development on the basis of a really different plan. It is bad planning because it was never the plan.

Returning to schools, though, it is not just school capacity that we need to look at. I think the infrastructure at many of the schools in my electorate has been neglected for some time now. Perhaps there is no better example than Burnside Primary School. I had the privilege of touring Burnside Primary School recently with the principal and also the parents and friends at that school to have a look at the state of the infrastructure there, and frankly, Burnside Primary School needs to be shown a bit of love.

There are currently five ill-equipped transportable buildings housing 11 classrooms that appear to have become permanent fixtures somehow. They are well past their use-by date. With the exception of a two-storey junior primary building constructed in 2011, the school's buildings were all constructed between 1907 and 1970. Upgrades are desperately needed and would be of great benefit to all of the students and the wider community at Burnside Primary School.

What I have recently been engaging with the minister about with respect to Burnside Primary School is the need for a new multilevel building to replace that series of transportable classrooms that have become well past their use-by date. There is an opportunity to get something in there that is pretty special, purpose built; perhaps a STEM facility, some breakout spaces and some more suitable classrooms as well.

I would also like to see a covered outdoor learning area (a COLA) at Burnside Primary School. It is desperately needed, particularly so that students can enjoy the outdoors all seasons round. There is a need for some new toilets to replace a very outdated toilet block near the top of the playground and also a need for an upgraded performing arts centre at that school. The school has done some initial costings of that project at just over $9 million. I invited the minister to come and visit the school, and I am glad that he has agreed to do so. He can see with his own eyes the desperate need for some additional funding for infrastructure at Burnside Primary School.

The final thing I wanted to touch on very briefly was the need to invest in open space in the eastern suburbs, and spaces for various local sporting groups and recreational groups to be able to gather. We are really starved of green open space in my electorate which leaves sporting clubs like the Glenunga Football Club and, indeed, the Glenunga Cricket Club always looking for more to cater for their growing numbers. They have a space at the Glenunga Hub which has to be some of the most over-used green grass that I have ever seen in the state.

We have groups like the Burnside Hockey Club that is searching for a home, the East Adelaide Cricket Club is searching for clubrooms and a space to call home and, indeed, the East Adelaide Football Club—who I met with only last week—are currently utilising a space in the Parklands but are really looking for more and more certainty for them to be able to cater for the needs of their growing club.

Of course, there is the plight of the Saints Gym Club which currently operates at St Peter's Girls School, and with their redevelopment at that school we are looking for a new home by the end of the year. They are currently catering for hundreds of young girls and boys, and with hundreds more on the waiting list they are urgently needing a space.

I support the Supply Bill and have appreciated the opportunity to just draw the house's attention to those three issues in particular that are priorities for me and my electorate: getting trucks off Portrush Road, investing in our schools, and investing in our open space and sporting clubs.

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (16:16): To begin, I just want to reflect on some previous remarks made by my friends on the other side of the chamber. They mentioned matters such as debt reduction and increased spending and things that they are going to do if they are given the keys to the Treasury. I want to point out before I begin my speech that you cannot have both without tax increases and service cuts.

I am very happy to rise in support of the Supply Bill. I plan on speaking for a while so if anyone wants to grab a Milo and a blanket, now is a great time to start. Jokes aside, this is a serious bill for numerous reasons which my colleagues and I are in the process of outlining. To me, I consider the need to speak as a way to underline the brilliant work and to express gratitude to our Public Service.

I do not imagine many will remember the speech I gave a few years back on how amazing our police and ambulance officers were at the time when my dad passed away. I do not want to open up old wounds, but when I get up and speak on supply it is examples of dedication and brilliance that come front and centre, and why I feel passionately about why this bill must be passed with a high degree of enthusiasm.

Today, I want to use this time to highlight some of the exceptional work I have experienced both directly and indirectly within our Public Service as a means of highlighting just how lucky we are. I want to start with a little group within the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (or DIT for short) known as the Rail Care team. There are a lot of moving parts to this team and, as their website points out, Rail Care is a volunteer program led by Public Transport South Australia that looks to build healthy neighbourhoods and lead community engagement.

Scrolling through their web page, I can see that they go to great lengths to run volunteer programs, as well as beautifying our urban environment through public art. It is their public art that I really want to home in on and highlight the great work that this team did around Parafield Railway Station towards the latter end of 2024.

I know they do not seek personal recognition, but I would really like to put Scott Bailey, Courtney Robinson, Jamie Farr, Paul Speck, Peter Wenham, Trevor Harding, Scott Lawrence, Grant O'Daniel, Tom Young, Robert Lugg, George Hadges and Mark Kerko up in lights for their amazing work. Their efforts in engaging the community was second to none and, while I am so proud of what they have achieved, I know my words will never really express the true brilliance behind their efforts.

To tell a story, I will begin briefly by highlighting the work they achieved, alongside the member for Waite, and the exceptional artwork adjacent to the Glenalta Railway Station. That is my hardworking colleague's story and I will leave it to her to go into details, but, needless to say, my mum lives in Blackwood, and the striking artwork really caught my eye when passing and made me ask myself what I need to do to see something similar along the northern Adelaide railway corridor.

A call later to Minister Koutsantonis' office, and before I knew it I had the Rail Care team sitting in the lounge at Parliament House, looking at ways in which we can engage the community in their own unique project. This prompted me to meet with the principal of Thomas More College, Corey Tavella, to see if he was keen to be part of a prospective project. He seemed very keen, and before I knew it he was assembling staff and students, and meetings with the Rail Care team happened soon after.

It was at this point that the project started to take shape, with two notable teams of students forming: one to green up the station with some extra plant life, while the other team focused on adding some street art to the area. I was really privileged, on 20 September last year, to join year 9 environmental studies students for a day of planting at the station. All sorts of native plants, shrubs and ground covers were planted with the intent of bringing birdlife and butterflies back to the area. In raising this, I want to give a shout-out to the Australian Association for Environmental Education, who not only provided the plants for the day but spent time with students, talking about what they were planting and the significance of each plant species to the local area.

It was also a perfect prelude to the mural work that was to follow, noting that, collectively, the students placed an emphasis on bringing back butterflies to the station. With this in mind, year 11 students and their amazing art teacher, Paul Kralj, set to work, developing designs to brighten up a space that without any controversy could be described as drab. Students agreed that there would be an emphasis on bright colours, nature and butterflies, and set about developing designs to complement the new plants, while being incorporated into the station and the surrounding signal boxes.

It was at this point that the incredible Rail Care staff brought in the ever-talented Ella Simpson from Ink and Ruby Studios, who not only worked closely with the students in developing their designs but was also on hand to adapt them as full-size art pieces for the public to enjoy. Chances are you are familiar with Ella's work, even if you do not know it. Her clients around Adelaide include the Rundle Mall Management Authority, YWCA and local councils, including Kangaroo Island, Salisbury, Port Adelaide Enfield, Prospect and Marion. She splashed a lot of colour across South Australia, making it such a thrill to lend her talents to work alongside this amazing bunch of students. Ella is not only very talented but is down-to-earth and gifted in working and engaging with young people.

Arguably, one of the best stories to come out of this project was just how closely she worked with Thomas More student Zoe Renshaw. It is not for me to put words into people's mouths, so I hope Ella will not mind when I say that she was so deeply impressed with her work that she took her under her wing, and the two spent part of the summer holidays working alongside each other on a number of projects. It has given Zoe a genuine taste of a future career, and it is a prime example of how Rail Care goes way beyond prettying things up, which in this case has sown seeds for what I hope will be a very bright career. Hopefully in years to come, when we celebrate the work of Zoe, we can look back fondly, knowing it all started at a suburban station in northern Adelaide.

This is one of the several stories I want to share today in demonstrating the worth of our Public Service. Before I move on to the next story, it is worth pointing out that a lot of the Rail Care staff are loyal members of the Public Service who refused to be transferred to the private sector when the Liberals privatised our railway network. So hats off to them for their commitment to our state. In my eyes they have all done a fantastic job, and I am grateful for all their help and the good they have achieved within the communities that I represent. Of course, there is more to do, and I know that Paul Kralj from Thomas More is hopeful we can get his team back into our neighbourhood as soon as possible.

In hailing the work of our Public Service, I do not want to move too far from recognising our next set of excellent employees within the Department for Infrastructure and Transport—this time within the public transport team itself. Ever since I was endorsed as a candidate, I have had members of the community approach me to improve bus services within The Boulevard section of Parafield Gardens. For those unfamiliar, Parafield Gardens is an exceptionally large suburb, which, if you were going to compare it to some inner city suburbs, you could squeeze about four or five Maylands or Leabrooks into the same area. Because it is such a vast space, it means that some parts of the suburb were not developed until recent times, with The Boulevard section being a prime example. Subsequently, some areas are served reasonably well by public transport, while there has been a bit of a gap in the southern, newer parts.

This matter has been compounded further through the development of the Gardens Lifestyle Village. With 210 homes, up until recently it has had a very limited offering when it comes to public transport. The reality is that, as we get older, the odds of us keeping our driver's licences diminish, meaning there were many individuals without access to a car and therefore their transport options notably reduced. I played table tennis against a number of these residents, so I do not want to paint a story of mobility issues, but in keeping with a straight bat I will point out that until very recently there was a good walk to the nearest bus stop that regularly serviced the area. While many can hit a powerful backhand, the walk was not easy for everyone, especially at night or during inclement weather.

Enter the good people of the department, who met with me on several occasions to develop the best plan possible to help service this community. While I was very grateful to be given the opportunity to help shape a revised bus route, my ask to them was very simple: with the resources available develop the best strategy possible to get maximum bang for our buck. I love public transport, but am out of my depth when it comes to transport planning, so the best thing to do was to defer to the experts and let them come up with the solution. What they came up with was a commendable plan to slightly detour the 411 bus route, which acts as a feeder bus service between the Salisbury and Mawson interchanges.

As of this Monday, the service has been detoured from the western side of Shepherdson Road through The Boulevard, out through Rundle Drive, and then connecting back onto Shepherdson via Martins Road. In examining the timetable, I understand it will add an extra four minutes of travel time to the journey, but in the process helps several hundred families by providing a service much nearer to their homes.

I do acknowledge there have been some people unhappy with what is proposed, but I hope those slightly inconvenienced will understand that I could not sit by and accept more and more seniors living in The Gardens and surrounding streets being forced to give up their driver's licence and with it the freedom to get around town. While there is always room for possible adjustments, I want to express my thanks to the team from DIT who worked hard to make this happen. They have moved exceptionally quickly from the meetings we had just last year.

I was at the pre-polling booth for the federal election last week and met one couple from the Gardens Village who expressed their delight that this change was then imminent. They explained to me that, while they are still driving, the loss of a licence was no longer something they feared, knowing they had a regular bus service that would operate day and night, seven days a week. This translates into giving hundreds of people peace of mind, knowing that this change will hopefully ensure they do not have to move away from their friends in the years ahead.

The last story I want to home in on is not mine but one belonging to a local resident, a friend of mine, Chris Bellamy from Paralowie. This is a story he has been keen to share. I recently approached him and said that if we could use it to reinforce the value of the Public Service the Supply Bill would give us the freedom to go into detail without the word limitations we would normally expect when delivering a personal statement via a grievance debate. He jumped at the idea, explaining to me with pride that he would not be here today if it were not for the hardworking staff we have within our public health system, and, of course Dr Nick Tellis, his hardworking and extremely dedicated GP.

I remember the day quite clearly, when I first read about Chris. I was working in my office on the weekend when I realised I had missed an Advertiser story about a local constituent battling a brain tumour. The whole story stopped me in my tracks, and whatever I was doing, it played second fiddle to what I had just read. I recall then writing a careful letter to him explaining how I was his local MP, and in dealing with what must be a difficult time perhaps the last thing Chris wanted was a politician in his life but how I wanted to meet with him and see if there was anything I could do just to be useful.

Needless to say, we caught up. I hope he will not mind me saying that he is one of the nicest, most caring and decent people I have had the privilege to meet. But enough about me and what I think. This is Chris's story and he has asked that we begin by winding the clock back to 2 September 2022, which he describes as starting like any other day, with his kids dropped at child care and him suited up and ready for a day at work, beginning with the commute from Paralowie to Lonsdale.

Driving along South Road, he suddenly noted an insanely strong smell of smoke, and his vision flipped upside down. After a moment of severe panic, he focused on the car in front, trying to ensure there was no collision. The symptoms then suddenly disappeared, and Chris pulled over immediately. He then called his wife and continued his drive to work. With the commute complete, he told his boss what had happened and was then taken straight to hospital.

On arrival, he described the incident to the hospital staff, triggering the need for many tests. At that point, none of them showed any irregularities or issues until he underwent a CT scan confirming that he had a brain tumour. Chris was then transferred to Flinders hospital to get an MRI and assessment by the professional team, in which the initial assessment suggested he had a small tumour with a large amount of swelling.

By 20 September, he was at SAHMRI, undergoing a detailed 3D scan. Twenty days later, he was rehospitalised after a stroke-like incident, and by 14 October scans had shown that the tumour had grown rapidly. Three days later, he underwent a biopsy to assess the tumour, and on 19 October he was given the news nobody wants to learn. Chris was diagnosed with a large stage 3 astrocytoma, with an estimated remaining lifespan of around six weeks, and advised to celebrate Christmas early, as there were no guarantees that he was going to make it.

At this stage of the story, it is worth placing into context that at the time Chris was 30 years old, married to Chelsea with two amazing kids, a two-year-old son, Luke, and a four-year-old daughter, Kairi. As the notes he gave to me clearly expressed, he was not ready to say goodbye. Following diagnosis, the amazing staff at Lyell McEwin Hospital organised swift and intense treatment to try to slow down his tumour from growing, with the treatment beginning on 30 November with chemotherapy and radiotherapy every day for the next six weeks.

The date of 24 December was his final day of treatment—or so he thought. Chris then received word that due to the public holidays he would have to have his final day of treatment a full five days later. He decided he was having none of that and instead opted for double treatment of radiotherapy and took his final dose of chemotherapy. Noting that he made it through to 25 December, Chris celebrated Christmas with his family, but the following seven months were nothing short of tough, with continual chemotherapy in the first week of every month until August 2023.

While it was far from easy, with an attitude that needs to be chiselled into its rightful place in our Hansard Chris expressed that every day for him was an achievement and a reason to celebrate. During this period of treatment, Chris took advantage of every day and did some things he had always wanted to do. He and his father went swimming with sharks in Port Lincoln on 22 January 2023, even though his treatment made him incredibly nauseous and seasick on the trip. His response to the team asking if he would be okay to get in the cage was, 'If I vomit while I am in the water, it might bring more sharks. Nothing will stop me from going in the water.'

On 3 February 2023, shortly after his return from a trip, a large private fundraising event was held at Dom Polski for Chris, with over 200 people in attendance. They received many generous donations for an auction at the event, which raised over $30,000 for Chris's family, to help with bills, outgoings and additional treatments, including naturopath therapies. Just before I stop, there is a bit more to this, but I will say Chris is still with us to this day and is doing well. With that in mind, I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.