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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-02-06 Daily Xml
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Infrastructure Projects

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (14:28): My question is to the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr ELLIS: —Minister for Transport, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning. Can the minister please update the house on South Australia's fully funded pipeline of infrastructure worth $12.9 billion over four years?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:28): I do thank—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —the member for Narungga for this question. I do note that there is some $125 million worth of that $12.9 billion that is being spent on arguably the most important infrastructure project for his electorate, that being the Port Wakefield duplication and overpass—a project that was thought of previously. In fact, it was thought of for a generation but is something that this government was able to deliver within the first few months of coming to government.

On that front, we will see the awarding of that contract start very, very soon. The land acquisition process is in its final stages and we are getting on and delivering this project amongst a $12.9 billion program for the people of South Australia.

First up, you have to ask, 'Why is it that we build these things?' We don't build these things simply because they're nice things to look at: we build them because they create jobs. That is precisely what we told South Australians we would do and that is precisely what we are getting on and delivering—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —$12.9 billion, a huge record. A record some $800 million or $900 million over what any previous record was over a four-year period we are injecting into the economy to create jobs. What it also does is deliver better services by allowing people to get to and from where they want to go that much more quickly. What we have also done, and one of the great achievements of the first session of this parliament, is to deliver Infrastructure South Australia. Instead of delivering pet projects in marginal seats around electoral cycles, what we will deliver—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —is infrastructure that South Australia needs based on evidence, based on what the experts say we need to be doing, so that we can drive that dollar as far and as hard as we can to deliver as much benefit to South Australians as possible. There is a lot that is now going to happen over this second session of this parliament.

The Premier did allude to a number of projects that are underway at the moment, but over the course of this year we will see construction commence on those seven metropolitan intersections that are going to help ease congestion right across metropolitan Adelaide to make our network work that much better. We are already in the land acquisition stage on a number of those projects and in the design phase on all those projects, and we will see diggers in the ground over the coming months creating jobs for South Australians.

For the two level crossings in Ovingham and Hove, we are in that consultation and design phase to make sure we get those two projects right. I do note they were part of the former government's agenda, but there was just one small part of the puzzle that was missing, and that was the money to deliver the projects. It is all well and good to deliver billions of dollars worth of infrastructure—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —without cash in the budget to be able to deliver them. But that is what we put on the table—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —a funded pipeline of $12.9 billion worth of infrastructure for South Australia. Perhaps the most important work we will do over this session of the parliament is fixing around 10 per cent of our country roads in South Australia that had been left in a disastrous mess by those opposite for some two decades. We are fixing 1,000 kilometres of road in regional South Australia, a huge down payment on creating jobs, on saving lives and helping to inject money into regional communities that have for so long delivered productively for our state but have not had the benefit of a government willing to reinvest in them.

This government also has huge investments it is making in education infrastructure, in health infrastructure, in prison infrastructure, all of which were highlighted in the Governor's speech. What the South Australian people can come to understand from this government is that we deliver the infrastructure they need, create the jobs they so strongly desire and, in doing so, create a better South Australia, a more livable city, a more livable state and something that delivers better services for them and for their families.

The SPEAKER: The members for Lee, Kaurna and Ramsay are all warned. The Leader of the Opposition.

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