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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-05-14 Daily Xml
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Springbank Road Intersection

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:24): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Does the minister stand by his public statements that the numbers don't lie and the numbers confirm that the Marshall government's solution for a double T-junction at Springbank Road-Daws Road will deliver faster travel times?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:25): When you upgrade an intersection, yes, it does result in faster travel times and that still is very much the case. Regardless of which model you use, if you are going to upgrade to add increased capacity to intersections, it does increase travel times. That situation is the same but, again, I will elaborate a little bit on the question that the member is asking and that is in relation to the Goodwood Road/Springbank Road/Daws Road intersection, which I did go out and make some statements on last Monday. The government has changed its position and that is because, again—

Ms Stinson: To save your candidate in Boothby.

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —as the numbers changed, so we changed our information and so we changed our mind. I am not embarrassed one bit by the fact that we moved to a different intersection because it's going to provide the best solution and the best outcome. What I think would be more embarrassing—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —is not making a change to do what is otherwise the best thing with South Australian taxpayers' money. I did it last Monday. I'm more than happy to do it again any single time that we think that there is a better idea on the table. But there is, to be clear, a very different contrast between what those opposite were proposing when they were in government—unfunded, but they were proposing it—and what we are actually going to deliver. The model that the former government had on the table—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —was going to cost $45 million more than the solution I announced last Monday. It was also going to take two years longer to deliver, which is why we didn't go with it. It was more expensive and it was going to take longer to deliver—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —and it wouldn't have delivered the same traffic outcomes as our solution that we put on the table. In relation to this, we are going to be undertaking a lot of civil construction work around South Australia. With the last federal budget, we have been able to secure $2.6 billion worth of new money to deliver on—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —seven intersection upgrades and two grade separations, as well as getting a massive injection of money to get on with the next sections of the north-south corridor—a huge investment in road upgrades in metropolitan South Australia. That is going to mean that we are going to have to go and change the shape of parts of our city, and that means we are going to have to talk to people about acquiring their land. It's a very difficult process and one that we undertake with extreme care and caution because we are disrupting people's lives. I think we do that in full knowledge of what it is we are doing because we are making a broader commitment to help the tens of thousands of people a day who go through these intersections.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: But what we as a government should be doing with the way that we design this—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: ——is seeking to minimise the amount of land acquisition that we undertake with any proposal. Why we have now moved to the design that we have is to minimise the number of people who are impacted as a result of this upgrade. I think that is prudent, especially when it's cheaper, quicker and disrupts people less. I think that that is the best way to go about things, so I would be more than happy to stand up and explain how we are making sure that we eke the best amount of value out of every single taxpayer dollar that we have. I will stand up here and talk about that anytime anyone would like me to.

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