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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-07 Daily Xml
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Heysen Community

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:36): I am grateful once again for the opportunity to rise and to give some reflections in this particularly trying time. As I stand here right now, I cannot recall a time when I have been more proud to be a South Australian, and that is increasingly so as each day goes by. I have never been more proud to see the work that is being done daily by our state's great institutions: those on the front line in health, those in the government responsible for making the key decisions that are being made each day and the contribution, I might say, being made by this parliament in the work that it is doing in facilitating the urgent measures that are needing to be taken.

In all of this, every day we see the extraordinary and surprising and resilient work that is being done by individuals in all our local communities—and mine is no exception. The Hills community is demonstrating its resilience, its goodwill and its spirit in times that are particularly trying. We know that we have seen whole industries that are critical to ordinary life in the Hills having to close altogether, those gathering point industries, from the cellar doors and wineries through to our magnificent restaurants and bars and so on. They are feeling the brunt of all of this very directly.

There are a number of industries that have been significantly curtailed as well, and our community is finding solutions to this, working around it and developing innovative responses. As the representative of these Heysen communities, I could not be more proud. I have said often that this is exactly why we put our hand up to be a representative and I am doing what little part I can to help those who are demonstrating great strength in the face of adversity.

One of the things that the government is doing is ensuring that as many South Australians as possible can remain employed, and gainfully so, in the running of infrastructure works around the state, particularly in the regions. I have been delighted to welcome the fast-tracking of works on the South Eastern Freeway—the resurfacing of the freeway from the tollgate to Crafers. That will be of benefit to my constituents and will benefit the entire state, especially those who will be coming and going when times return to normal. The $35 million of resurfacing works will significantly add to the improvement of safety on that key stretch of the freeway and it will ensure that lots of South Australians are in work, as that work is fast-tracked.

In addition, $15 million has fast-tracked work to substantially upgrade and refit the Heysen Tunnels. We know that those works will include a major refit of end-of-life components of those tunnels, which are now 20 years old, and they will include safety, intelligent transport system work, electrical systems and other equipment. Tenders have been released and those works will commence promptly. So $50 million of important works are happening immediately on the freeway.

I mentioned that the work on the managed motorways system to add a third lane between Crafers and Stirling is commencing as well. Within a very short period of time, we will see significant improvements and changes for the 54,000-plus daily users of the freeway. As important as the safety improvements is that we will see great opportunities for jobs in this state.

As we confront this health emergency, jobs and the flow-on to wellbeing are incredibly important. We know that wellbeing is going to increasingly be a focus. We need to look after each other. I mention the great initiative established by the government, the COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line (1800 632 753) that is available from 8am to 8pm. This is one of many practical steps to ensure that, as far as possible, we support the wellbeing of those in our state.

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