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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-16 Daily Xml
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SOUTH ROAD UPGRADES

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (14:31): My question is also for the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister inform the house about how the government came to a figure of $896 million for the Torrens to Torrens South Road upgrade?

The SPEAKER: Minister for Transport.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:31): Yes, perhaps the members opposite should pay attention; they may learn something rather than just picking up things on the back of postage stamps. I would like to thank the honourable member for her question. South Road is Adelaide's busiest road. Let's not forget it was this government that was responsible for lobbying to have the entire corridor recognised by the commonwealth. At the same time we had South Road recognised as nationally significant, and I pay tribute to the work of the former minister in this work. As such, Mr Speaker—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: You may spend more time on that if you wish.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I may spend more time on that. As such, $70 million was provided to allow South Australia to plan for the entire corridor. This funding for planning was pivotal. It allowed us to revisit the idea of addressing just a single underpass or overpass and allowed us to come up with solutions for kilometres of road at a time, not just intersection by intersection. This has made the reality of a free-flowing corridor closer than ever before. When analysing South Road between Darlington and the Port River Expressway, this planning and analysis was done on an objective basis. Because South Road is on the national network, it had to be submitted to Infrastructure Australia.

Mr Marshall: Like the desal.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The desal is not part of the national freight network.

The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This means it had to go through a cost-benefit analysis; it had to stack up. While there were building solutions like the Superway—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the leader for the first time.

Mr Marshall: Cost-benefit analysis doesn't mean anything.

The SPEAKER: I warn the leader for the second time. The Minister for Transport will get on with it.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir. While we were building solutions like the Superway, we also planned for fully integrated public transport and road solutions near Darlington in tackling what everyone in South Australia recognises as the worst part of South Road: the Torrens to Torrens section. Everyone knows it is the worst section except, of course, members opposite. Torrens to Torrens is probably one of the most challenging pieces—

Mr Marshall: This is debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes, it is debate, but I gather the Minister for Transport has moved on.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes. Torrens to Torrens is probably one of the most challenging pieces of the road to fix in Adelaide. It has 66 kV lines, a narrow corridor, and it is busy all of the day, not just in peak times. Members might also remember it was only a few years ago we had a truck hitting a Stobie pole causing delays on the busiest freight route.

In 2011, we commenced planning on this section of road. By having funding to plan, we were able to come up with a solution that was affordable, provided massive benefits and ticked all the boxes for Infrastructure Australia. The investment has enabled us to develop a project that has a cost-benefit analysis of 2.4, and as a result of this great work we have now secured commonwealth funding.

The estimate for South Road (Torrens Road to the River Torrens) is prepared in accordance with nationally agreed practice, that is, the best practice cost estimating standard. It is a requirement of the commonwealth government. We make no apologies for our choices and for ultimately coming up with a solution that South Australians deserve. While this government has come up with real solutions for Adelaide's busiest road, all we have from the opposition is—

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: A point of order from the member for Stuart.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: When the minister says 'all we have from the opposition is', history tells us that he will spend the last 10 or 15 seconds debating the point, so standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: Points of order are for breaches that are alleged to have occurred, not breaches that may occur, so I call the member for Stuart to order and we await the Minister for Transport's coda.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I will say something nice, sir. The opposition has no policy on this, rather than—

The SPEAKER: I warn the Minister for Transport for the second time and withdraw leave for him to continue answering because, alas, the member for Stuart's prophecy has been fulfilled.

Ms CHAPMAN: I have a supplementary of the minister.

The SPEAKER: Oh, a supplementary? You want to have more of him? Okay.

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