Majors Road Interchange

Mr DIGHTON (Black) (15:43): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer update the house on the final budget impacts of the Majors Road project and any alternative views on the project?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:44): Delivered early and on budget—$120 million, delivering shorter and safer journeys through Adelaide's southern suburbs, which will connect people to the nonstop north-south corridor. This is a very important piece of infrastructure.

About 13,200 vehicles travel daily on Majors Road. They will now have access to the Southern Expressway, access now to the nonstop north-south corridor, a game changer for people in those suburbs. I make absolutely no apology for this. The members for Davenport, Black, Hurtle Vale and Gibson—the current members in those seats; not the previous, but the current members—were tireless champions of this piece of infrastructure, as was the Premier.

The good thing about this project is that it was a contest of ideas, because as popular as it was, having volunteers from Glenthorne Farm there with us, having local residents there with us, local MPs, the local community, a celebration of this intersection, it wasn't always so harmonious. There were some, believe it or not, who thought this was a bad idea. In fact, someone said:

No one wants the Majors Road on/off ramps and this is yet another example of Peter Malinauskas and Labor's city-centric attitude.

But wait—there's more. Someone said:

A leaked feasibility study from 2020 shows this project simply doesn't stack up so unless the Malinauskas Labor Government has some new advice then this is simply a waste of $120 million.

This person goes on to say:

Significant question marks remain around the future of the North-South Corridor and despite a feasibility study showing the Majors Road project is a waste of money—

Apparently, there is a feasibility study showing it is a waste of money—

Labor are arrogantly pushing on with it.

Because we are arrogantly wanting the southern suburbs to have access to infrastructure. This person goes on to say:

Wasting at least $120 million for this project simply doesn't make sense when that money could be spent on safety measures that could save lives such as a third arrester bed on the South Eastern Freeway.

So they wanted to cancel this project and move the money somewhere else. Who said these things? The Leader of the Opposition—the Leader of the Opposition.

I can only imagine the horror when those local residents read in their letterboxes, or see on their Facebook pages or see in their local social media, that the Liberal Party (1) thought this project was a waste of money, and (2) after having promised to build it in 2018 came up with a feasibility study that says it wasn't possible to be built, despite it being opened last Sunday on time and on budget. They produced a report that said it couldn't be built. Who could possibly have done that?

An honourable member: Who?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Rob Lucas—Rob Lucas. So they did a study that said this can't be done. They made the promise to win the seat, made the promise to try to get votes, got in, and then abandoned it on the basis of a feasibility study. Nothing proves a feasibility study wrong more than the actual project being built early and on budget. That is an example of how they govern South Australia. They promise you the world and deliver nothing. They promise you the world and don't deliver. They don't build infrastructure. They don't care about local communities. They criticise infrastructure, and if they had their chance they would have cancelled it. You can't trust anything—anything—they say.