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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-13 Daily Xml
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INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Ms PORTOLESI (Hartley) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about the impact of the infrastructure announcements for South Australia in the federal budget?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:11): I am pleased to answer that question, and I think everyone (and I hope even members opposite) would agree that it was a very good budget for South Australia. The budget committed to over $1 billion in infrastructure investment in public transport, medical research, a science hub and a doubling of the capacity of the Adelaide desalination plant. When I met with the Prime Minister to outline the state's priorities for Infrastructure Australia projects, I identified water, public transport and health as the areas most critical to South Australia. We had a meeting in Canberra that went for some hours, and there were meetings before that in Adelaide, Canberra and, indeed, finally, in Hobart.

We offered the federal government projects that could begin quickly where the planning work had already been done which would benefit our state. I could not be more pleased with the response from the federal government. It has listened and adopted many of our recommendations for priority projects for South Australia. Some of them, of course—most of them—are in the Infrastructure Australia fund, but not all. It has also been able to support us in desalination and other areas from other funding. Like this government, which is rolling out an unprecedented infrastructure package, the federal government is investing in jobs for South Australians and in infrastructure for the future of this state. In partnership, it will help us deliver a climate-independent, sustainable water supply for Adelaide and help us reduce our reliance on the River Murray.

Members should not forget that this budget and the infrastructure commitments to this state occurred within just weeks of a massive announcement in terms of the $25 billion to $30 billion new submarines project for South Australia, and a range of other defence projects which, of themselves, would be front page news if it had not been for the submarine project being the largest project in Australian defence history and the largest contract in Australian defence history.

So the additional $228 million funding from the federal government outlined last night, along with $228 million of state government funding, will enable us to double the desalination plant at Port Stanvac from 50 gigalitres to 100 gigalitres. The expanded plant, which will cost around $1.8 billion, will guarantee water security for Adelaide, providing up to half the city's annual water use. The desalination plant is a climate-independent source of water, which takes pressure off the Murray, takes pressure off dependence on rainwater, and gives us the insurance we need against future climate variability and drought.

This means that, regardless of the frequency or severity of droughts in the future, we know Adelaide's water supply will be guaranteed. The first water from the desal plant is still expected in December 2010. The increase in production to 100 gigalitres is expected by the end of 2012. With the increase to 100 gigalitres, extra reverse osmosis modules will be added to the current plant under construction at Port Stanvac. There is no need for a new site. The desal plant will be powered using sustainable energy sources.

In addition to this critical investment in guaranteeing Adelaide's water supply, the federal budget also announced and outlined $646 million worth of investment in public transport for the northern and southern suburbs. So let us just remember that: $2 billion announced from the state government, and here we have an injection of $646 million, which not only allows us to extend those projects but also allows us to bring them forward in time. I know that members opposite will be looking forward to seeing the poles and wires being constructed along the railway line from Noarlunga through to Gawler, and also the start on construction of the Seaford line at the end of next year. They are as happy, deep down, as we are because—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Okay. So $291 million will be spent on extending the rail line from Noarlunga to Seaford. This 5.5 kilometre extension will involve the construction of two new stations and a bridge over the Onkaparinga River. It will bring much needed rail transport to the growing populations of our southern suburbs. I think the Conlon bridge over the Onkaparinga River will be a centrepiece.

The federal government will also co-fund the modernisation of the Gawler rail network, providing $294 million to resleeper and electrify the Gawler line and support vital capital works at 24 rail stations—so nearly $300 million to electrify the Gawler line and 24 rail stations. This will allow us to bring forward the work on this project so that it can be completed earlier.

I have an announcement to make to the house. Work on both rail projects will begin in 2010 and the projects are scheduled for completion in 2013. Because the federal government is partnering with us on upgrading and electrifying the Gawler line, we will be simultaneously electrifying and upgrading the Noarlunga to Adelaide line, and they will be funding the 5.5 kilometre extension down to Seaford.

These projects are part of the state government's vision for the rail system. Of course, there will also be the coast-to-coast tram network, on which construction has already begun. This vision was first outlined in our 2005 Infrastructure Plan, in which we identified electrification of the rail network to the north and south and the Seaford extension as options for improving our public transport system. We then backed this vision with a $2 billion public transport package in the 2008 state budget. The federal government funding for these two projects will help make these plans a reality even sooner than we originally planned.

In addition to their investment in our train lines, the federal government will fund the extension of the O-Bahn via a dedicated road corridor from the end of the O-Bahn track at Hackney Road to the CBD, greatly reducing travel times and congestion. I am told that it will take about 10 minutes off the travel time to the centre of the CBD for people using the O-Bahn from the north-eastern suburbs. I think people know—and I am sure the Minister for Infrastructure would acknowledge in a humble way—that I have a very strong interest in engineering. I was very pleased to be able to sit down with the Prime Minister, Rod Hook and Jim Hallion for some hours in Canberra to go through the design intricacies and engineering possibilities of these projects.

In addition to their investment in our train lines, the federal government will fund the extension of the O-Bahn via a dedicated road corridor. This is about reducing travel times and congestion for the O-Bahn buses and motorists. I should say that work on this 4.5 kilometre section of road from the O-Bahn will also begin this year. I you think you have seen a pattern here—a whole lot of things starting this year because they were ready to roll.

South Australia—and it has already been highlighted by the Leader of the Opposition—will also receive $200 million to build a new health and medical research facility collocated with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. I know that the leader has announced things that he thought might be in the federal plan, including stadium money and various other things—this is real. The documents released last night were the real ones, the real budget. The flagship research centre will also become the headquarters for the planned South Australian health and medical research institute.

This is an incredibly exciting development, bringing significant benefits to South Australia's economy and enabling us to continue to play a leading role on the global health and medical research stage. Construction of the institute is expected to create around 1,400 direct jobs—that is, working down there on the railway land site—and around 1,500 indirect jobs. Once completed, the facility will house up to 675 researchers.

Here is another announcement: construction will start in early 2010 and the facility is expected to open in 2012. The construction of the research facility is the first step in the delivery of Adelaide's new central city hospital, the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. I am not sure what plans the minister has for naming this new medical research institute, but maybe I could be of help.

This is also very important: the federal government has also committed $15 million for the new Royal Institution of Australia to be established in Adelaide. For the benefit of those who perhaps are not scientifically literate but who soon will be, the Royal Institution of Great Britain was established more than 200 years ago, and its founders included people like Sir Joseph Banks and Michael Faraday. Also included as directors over the years were Lawrence and William Bragg, both South Australians and Nobel Prize winners, who, from memory, got their Nobel Prize for work on X-ray crystallography, which, of course, led to DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acid) and the structure of cells.

They have been going for more than 200 years in Britain and, after 200 years, have decided—with the support of Her Majesty The Queen, the British government, the Privy Council, the Duke of Kent and others—to establish the Australian Royal Institute of Science as the national science hub for all of Australia based in Adelaide. We are contributing funding to refurbish the old Stock Exchange Building—and that will be fantastic as a science hub. The federal government is putting in $15 million—

The Hon. K.O. Foley: And I'm going to join it.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The Deputy Premier is going to join the Royal Institution of Australia as a member. The RI of Australia—the brainchild of former Thinker in Residence Baroness Susan Greenfield—will bring together scientists from across the country and around the world, as well as industry and community. It will be a contemporary and accessible national home for science. The Australian Science Media Centre will be located there, which links the media and people involved. News Limited, Fairfax and the ABC are involved in it. I think we will see that located there as well, along with a range of other projects. One of the central aims of the Royal Institution will be to encourage young Australians to embrace science while they are studying and as a future career choice—and I know that the Leader of the Opposition is an enthusiastic supporter of the RI.

We are delighted with the announcements that have been made. There was confirmation of the announcement of the $15 million for the childhood cancer centre at the Women's and Children's Hospital, which we announced with Wayne Swan and Lance Armstrong in January.

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