North-South Corridor

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Treasurer about the north-south road corridor and the impact it will have on businesses on South Road.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: I have been in contact with iconic Adelaide baker Mr Vili Milisits, who has expressed fears that the South Road project will destroy the business he has built up over 52 years to international standards, with export markets around the world. He has been informed by DPTI that they will require part of his property to widen the road to enable an at-surface motorway and tunnels to be built.

The area required will wipe out 40 per cent of his factory, which includes freezers and ovens, and with it probably 300 jobs. He estimates it would cost $50 million just to relocate his significant operating facility. Mr Milisits has sought meetings—without success—with the transport minister. He also sought a meeting with DPTI officials, but was told they 'don't do house calls'. Mr Milisits has to work from his home because of a chronic lung disorder.

He was told no work would begin there for at least 10 years; however, surveyors were already there today. My question to the Treasurer is: what will his government do to preserve this vital manufacturing hub and 300 jobs, along with the many producers, retailers, manufacturers and consumers that depend on it?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:46): Being a great lover of Vili's pies and pasties, I am very much interested in the question the honourable member has put. I was advised earlier this morning—and I haven't had a chance to catch up with the Minister for Transport subsequent to a discussion about nine o'clock this morning—that no decision has been taken, in essence, in relation to closing down Vili's premises and destroying 300 jobs, and the other claims the Hon. Mr Pangallo has made.

If the Hon. Mr Pangallo is saying that Mr Milisits has been told by DPTI or the government that no work will begin for 10 years, that is just not correct. The Hon. Mr Pangallo has been in this chamber when I have indicated that the project will be completed by 2030, and I think the Hon. Mr Pangallo can work out for himself that if the project is going to be completed by 2030, then the claim that he has put on the public record that no construction activities are going to take place in and around Mr Milisits' premises for 10 years clearly can't be correct. I am sure the Hon. Mr Pangallo, being as fair as he is, would therefore view with some scepticism some of the claims that have been put to him and that he has now put on the public record.

I am sure the Minister for Transport and/or his representatives will, as soon as possible, seek to provide information to Mr Milisits, and indeed to many other residents and businesses along the north-south corridor project. As the honourable member will be aware, as he has lobbied furiously on behalf of some other businesses and iconic destinations such as the Queen of Angels Church, the Thebby Theatre and the like, the government has bent over backwards to try to minimise the extent of the disruption.

In broad terms, instead of the need to compulsorily acquire approximately 900 residences and businesses under the preferred model adopted by the former government, I think that number has been reduced to about 390. However, the reality is that you can't engage in a massive $8.9 billion economic infrastructure project without there being some disruption to some businesses and some individual residents. With the best will in the world it is just not possible to avoid some disruption to some businesses and some individuals.

My only request to the Hon. Mr Pangallo and, indeed, to others is to actually work through a process to try to minimise the extent of alarm and concern with businesses and individuals. If ultimately the decision of the planners and the government is that a particular business is confirmed by the government and the minister as being impacted, then it is an argument at least then about fact as opposed to various claims that might be made.

As I said, one of the claims the honourable member has put on the record, which is that construction won't commence for 10 years, is clearly factually wrong, therefore there is some doubt about the quality of the information that has been provided. Indeed, I was told yesterday that some individual supposedly representing the government and the Department for Infrastructure and Transport had gone out to the site and said, 'The government wants all of your site, not 40 per cent of your site.'

Again, the government, the department and, indeed, an individual who might be going out to the site is just not in a position at this stage to indicate the precise impact on individual businesses and residences in those particular parts of the north-south corridor where there are possible impacts until the final design work has been done and the business case has been concluded sometime through next year. The minister has been clear in relation to that, as have various departmental representatives.

As I said, I am sure that at some stage in the not-too-distant future either the minister or one of his representatives will be in a position to communicate with Mr Milisits and his iconic business in South Australia as to where we are up to, at least to distinguish fact from fiction at this stage. There may well be, as I am sure with many businesses, questions at this stage that can't be answered completely but at least some claims can be ruled out, such as the one the honourable member has just put on the record that construction won't commence for 10 years.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo, a supplementary.