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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-02 Daily Xml
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Construction Industry

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:38): My question is to the Minister for Trade and Investment. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government will grow confidence within the construction industry in the state through the record pipeline of current and future projects?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:38): I will take that question, sir. What I can say is that the Hills are alive with the sound of confidence—in fact, so are the plains and so are the regions.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: The community knows that our state is getting back on track after 16 years of rot from those opposite. Our $16.7 billion infrastructure spend is far greater—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —than they would ever have seen on that side of the house.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat. Interjections on my left will cease. The member for West Torrens will leave for 20 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A.

The honourable member for West Torrens having withdrawn from the chamber:

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the member for Elizabeth. I remind members that the minister, in answering the question, is entitled to be heard in silence. The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I know those opposite don't like to know about the confidence that is being built in the construction industry. It is outstanding and they are appreciative of the work we are doing. We are building, as I said, $16.7 billion worth of infrastructure over the next four years. That's hospitals, it’s schools, it's sporting infrastructure, it's road infrastructure, it's public transport infrastructure—hospitals, as I said—and also water infrastructure. We are delivering for the people of South Australia. That is supporting local businesses and it is growing jobs in South Australia, more than 19,000 jobs in that pipeline, which has confidence sky-high.

One of the great projects—I was out with the Premier just the other day, and the minister before me did a marvellous job in getting this one off the ground—is the Regency to Pym project. We were out having a look and speaking to the workers on the ground. Confidence has been instilled in that sector by delivering this project—and guess what? It's ahead of schedule and, guess what? It's under budget—a great project being delivered by this government which means we can invest in more projects in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Premier!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We are doing the job and we are reaping the rewards. That will be open in the coming months and the South Australian commuters will reap the rewards when they get to save travel time, up to eight minutes in peak hours, as they have their daily commute reduced so that they can get home earlier and spend more time with their families. That's what we are going to be delivering for the people of South Australia. Of course, this funding, secured through the 2018 budget, is in partnership with the federal government. Some of the partnerships with the federal government have been outstanding for this state, and that's where this confidence is growing.

The Deputy Prime Minister was here just last week announcing $100 million for tranche 1 of our road safety program. This is a great program. If you have been out into our regions over the past couple of months—and those opposite probably haven't but on this side I know we have—when you see some of the roads and the work that is happening in our regions, it is delivering confidence again.

Let me run through some of the roads and the projects that are underway: Barrier Highway, Tod Highway, Birdseye Highway, Horrocks Highway, Augusta Highway, Eyre Highway, Riddoch Highway, Ngarkat Highway, Stuart Highway, Military Road, Upper Yorke Road and the Karoonda Highway as well—all these projects will improving safety, delivering jobs for South Australia and increasing confidence, filling the industry with confidence in South Australia.

When we came to government, of course, the cupboard was bare because they hadn't done the planning work over that side—

An honourable member: Sixteen years.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —a very poor government. Sixteen years, no projects on the go. Now we have them rolling out the door and, as we saw, six new initiatives onto the Infrastructure Australia priority list—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the leader!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —more than have ever gone on there before under the previous government. They did nothing, sat on their hands and we are rolling them out. The High Productivity Vehicle network is a very important project and rolling out, as the Premier mentioned; an outer ring route; a high-priority list; and clearing that road maintenance backlog. They left us a job there. We are tackling it, but we have more to do. The feds have identified this as well and they are going to work with us and, of course, we are removing level crossings as well. These are very key projects that they didn't deliver.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Playford!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We are getting on with it and we will be doing more of them as well, working with the feds to deliver those projects. For decades our roads were neglected by those opposite but we have these projects on the IA list. We are working with the federal government to deliver more, and that is what is putting confidence back into the sector across South Australia: more jobs, lower costs, better services and building what matters for South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Kaurna, I call to order the member for Reynell. I call to order the member for Ramsay. I warn for a second time the member for Lee. The member for Playford can leave for 20 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A. And I call to order the Premier.

The honourable member for Playford having withdrawn from the chamber:

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