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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-23 Daily Xml
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PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: REST AREA AND HEAVY VEHICLE INSPECTION/WEIGH STATION ON STURT HIGHWAY AT YAMBA

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (11:54): I move:

That the 396th report of the committee, entitled Rest Area and Heavy Vehicle Inspection/Weigh Station on Sturt Highway at Yamba, be noted.

Pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed works.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:54): I would just like to briefly say a little bit about the new heavy vehicle inspection/weigh station and also note that the existing quarantine station will be demolished and a new quarantine station built. I find it quite ironic that the existing quarantine station is about to have funding cut for the night shift, yet we are seeing the existing facility knocked over. The total amount of $6.3 million is being put into the project, only to have it close for night shift.

I acknowledge that this inspection weigh station and quarantine inspection station is something that is warranted. History shows that my front gate used to be opposite the previous weigh station, which was at Spring Cart Gully on the Sturt Highway, and trucks or heavy vehicles that were flaunting the law, trying to get around the system, were always ring-routing that weigh station to get all the way to Yamba without being inspected.

This new weigh station will be the net that catches the culprits trying to flaunt the law. My major concern is that this new inspection station is not only for weighing and inspection of heavy vehicles, it is also a quarantine station, not only for the horticulture sector, but it is vital for South Australia's economy and for its fruit fly free status.

I will refer to the project description. The proposed rest area upgrade is on the South Australian section of the Sturt Highway which forms part of the national network link. The Sturt Highway forms the primary freight route between Sydney and Adelaide with a high percentage of the daily total traffic consisting of heavy vehicles. The upgrade of the rest area and the inspection stations is to provide facilities to efficiently service the estimated increased traffic volumes for the Sturt Highway.

I would like to highlight the increased traffic volumes, and that is not only the heavy vehicles, it is the tourists, the people who travel past Yamba who could potentially be a threat to the horticulture sector, to the fruit fly free status that the region holds and that all of South Australia benefits from. Again, it states that the facilities upgrade is intended to meet a number of South Australian strategic targets that meet the Council of Australian Government's requirements and address a range of important needs of Sturt Highway road users.

It is not only to inspect vehicles to keep them safe on our roads, but it is, again, to keep the region fruit fly free. It is to protect the River Murray primary production area against exotic pests and diseases by improving quarantine facilities and ensuring compliance with the Plant Health Act 2009. It is to improve the energy efficiency of government buildings with the aim of meeting the five-star energy rating for the quarantine inspection facilities.

Why are they going to spend a large amount of money on keeping a five-star energy rating when they are not going to be operating a night shift? If this government is going to close the weigh station for night shift, I think it is a fly in the face of the horticulture sector. I support the inspection weigh station and quarantine station, but it must keep the night shift open. To spend $6.3 million on a facility and then close the night shift is absolutely outrageous.

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (11:59): I want to raise a matter in relation to these rest areas. I certainly support them and the recent upgrades to them, but last week we saw the setting up of the scales and the shaker in a rest area at Daveyston, which is right opposite the Laucke Flour Mills.

I have had truck drivers ringing me up who are very concerned. I rang the minister about this, because it is a designated rest area that trucks have to use because of the law, and when I made the inquiry, the minister's staff got back to me and said, 'Well, there was room for them to drive in there.' You have got to be kidding! What truck driver is going to drive in there when the shaker and the scales are in there operating? How naive and stupid is that? So I really do complain. They are set up for rest areas and they should not be able to do that. I am happy to see it set up anywhere, but not in a designated rest area because truck drivers have planned a rest visit that they have to do by law. A very expensive area has been built at Blanchetown—same road—that is where they should operate their shaker and scales.

Motion carried.

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