Mobile Black Spot Program

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:32): Supplementary: will you admit that your policy has failed the people of South Australia, in particular regional areas, miserably?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:32): I will concede that the Hon. Terry Stephens's federal Liberal mates, in this instance, have thoroughly let down South Australia. They refuse to say why some places got funded and why some places didn't get funded—absolutely no transparency whatsoever. They clearly don't go in to bat for this state. I'm not sure what the problem is—whether it is that the federal member for Barker has no influence whatsoever within the federal party room.

The factional leader of the Hon. Terry Stephens, David Ridgway—the head of the Grandmaster Flash faction of the Liberal Party in South Australia—is only the second member for Barker never to have made the front bench. It might be that he just lacks the influence or it might be that he can't get on with anyone, and that's why the Limestone Coast has not received a single tower under two rounds of this program.