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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-04-02 Daily Xml
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North-South Corridor

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:16): My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister update the house on the fast-tracking of the Torrens to Darlington section of the north-south corridor?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:16): I can indeed, Mr Speaker. I can indeed. To set the scene, the north-south corridor is a 78-kilometre stretch of road that for a long time has had a very bipartisan commitment to complete and to have continuous.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: In the lead-up to the 2018 election, we said consistently and often, and the Premier said consistently and often, that finalising the north-south corridor was the number one infrastructure priority of the Marshall Liberal government, and so it is coming to pass. In our first budget, we put $5½ million aside to actually do the business case development for this project.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: This is what infrastructure development should look like; that is, you go and do the detailed work to decide what is the best way to deliver this project. We have consistently tried to have a conversation with the South Australian people about what the options are for the north-south corridor. Do we, for instance, go down an upgrade solution of overpasses and underpasses?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Do we look at a long 10½-kilometre tunnel, or do we look at a hybrid tunnel option, which provides a—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —tunnel north of Anzac Highway but also then south towards the Castle Plaza-Darlington end of the project? That work will be completed in the middle of the year, but we know with these infrastructure projects, these big projects that take many years to complete, that, firstly, you need to do your homework up-front and, secondly, what you need to do is get commitment and buy-in from different levels of government to help fund the project. That is precisely what has happened over the last few days.

We have been working and talking to the federal government about our priorities since coming to office and how we want to deal with the most complex section of this corridor. They have certainly left the hardest job to last, and I am extremely excited that it's the Marshall Liberal government that's going to finalise and deliver this project to make sure that we get it right.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: In addition to the $1.2 billion that was put on the table last year, we have been able to secure from the federal government a further $1.5 billion this year in the budget. We moved extremely quickly to match that funding to provide a pool of $5.4 billion—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —on the table. This project is going ahead. This money provides the certainty that it's going ahead, while for those opposite there are zero sleeps to wait. There is a budget that will be handed down in a few hours, and then all will be revealed. What I find interesting is that what we have is a bunch of strawmen that have been propped up by the opposition from time to time to try to, I suppose, disrupt what has been an orderly and structured process.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: What is interesting is that if we were to have been shovel-ready to start this project this year, somebody would have to have done their homework about three or four years ago. Now, that didn't happen—that did not happen. So what we've had to do since—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —coming to government is do the business case development, talk to Infrastructure Australia and Infrastructure South Australia and get the funding so that we can get on and deliver this project. Those opposite hate it. They hate it—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —because we are actually showing them up for how poor a job they did on infrastructure.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader will not interject.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: We as a government are going through an iterative process to deliver the best solution, being transparent with the South Australian public at every single step along the way. So, in summary—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —the first step—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —is do the business case development. Step 2 is secure the funding.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Step No. 3 is to get on and deliver, and that's precisely what the Marshall Liberal government is going to do over this first term.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Sit down! Before I call the Leader of the Opposition, I have to deal with certain interjections from that last answer. I call to order and I warn for a first time the member for Playford. The member for Reynell is called to order. The Minister for Primary Industries is called to order and warned. The member for Ramsay is called to order. The member for West Torrens is called to order and warned. The member for Lee is also warned for a first time. The members for Badcoe and Hammond and the Leader of the Opposition are all called to order. The leader has the call.

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