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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-07-24 Daily Xml
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Tramline Extension

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier stand by his statement on 8 March 2018 in regard to the right-hand turn of the tram, and I quote, 'We are going to fix it in the first 12 months'?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:13): As those opposite would be aware, they made a series of commitments to the people of South Australia. In fact, what those opposite said—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —is that the new tram would be ready in time for the Fringe. Well, correct me if I am wrong, but I was looking at the calendar today and I think we're in July already. The reality is that those opposite misled the people of South Australia when they said that they would deliver that tram by the end of January 2018.

In fact, what they did was they spent $10 million of taxpayer dollars to fast-track that project after they had already blown the budget for this absolutely mangled project. Those opposite, of course, originally promised that they would have a right-turning tram—that somehow disappeared.

Mr Pederick: The left got rid of that.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: That disappeared. There were too many people on board, too many people on that tram who never want to turn right. They never want to turn right. The reality is that the people of South Australia want to turn right. The project is running late. I think anybody can see that, and that's because of the hopeless mismanagement of the project that we inherited from those opposite.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Listen, there's a lot of noise from those opposite, sir—

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —somehow thinking that the project has been delayed by the new government. It was meant to be finished before the election. How could we be delaying a project that was meant to be finished long before we even formed government? Unfortunately, what has been set in stone is the mess that we inherited from those opposite, but we don't mind. We don't mind because we've got a job to do on behalf of every single taxpayer in South Australia, and that's to deliver on the commitments that we've—

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Let's hear the point of order.

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Relevance, sir. The question was whether he would honour his commitment for the first 12 months to complete the right-hand turn.

The SPEAKER: The point of order, I believe, is 98. The member for West Torrens has asked me whether the Premier is addressing the substance of the question. I think at this stage he is. I note that a quote was included in the question. There is precedence amongst former Speakers that if an external quote is referred to it does allow a bit of a wider scope, but I will be listening carefully that the Premier addresses the substance of the question.

Mr Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is called to order. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, sir. As you would be aware, when the commitment was made to have the right turn in place within 12 months, those opposite had misled the people of South Australia—and in fact, quite frankly, every single person in this state—that the project would already be complete.

We have obviously got to get further advice. We have sought that advice; that will be coming in the following months, and we will be taking action. But we will be acting responsibly on behalf of every single taxpayer—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —unlike those opposite—

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —unlike those opposite—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —who misled the people of South Australia for an extended period of time. We won't be doing that. We will be delivering on all our commitments, and we will be very proudly delivering on all our commitments. That's what we were elected to do, and that is exactly and precisely what we will do.

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned, and the Minister for Child Protection is called to order. The Leader of the Opposition.

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