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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-06-01 Daily Xml
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Torrens to Darlington Project

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (15:27): The failure of this government to deliver the Torrens to Darlington component of the north-south corridor is the biggest act of economic vandalism that I have seen for some time. We know that over the weekend South Australians were very disappointed to learn this government delayed the Torrens to Darlington project by an entire year. It was a delay that was in every sense of the term completely unnecessary.

What we have heard in recent times from the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in this place is that the Torrens to Darlington project in its current design was in some way unfeasible. That is what the minister asserted in this place yesterday and today. However, all our evidence points to the contrary. We know that under the original proposal and time line of the Torrens to Darlington project, bodies like Infrastructure SA gave the project quite a positive rating, meaning that successful delivery of the project was probable, that it was within the review team's rating for governance and risk management, that it had positive contingencies.

We know from recent sources that interviewees expressed confidence in the program. In fact, many interviewees had significant experience in these sorts of projects in Australia, and even they expressed the productivity rates as conservative. We have seen reviews highly complimentary along the way of costs and design.

We know that the Torrens to Darlington arm is the final, most complex, most expensive and most crucial section of the north-south corridor. It is South Australia's biggest infrastructure project. We know that the combination of tunnels, overpasses and underpasses will create the final piece of what is the 78-kilometre nonstop traffic light free motorway between Gawler and Old Noarlunga—a thoroughfare that South Australians have been patiently waiting for.

South Australians should not be expected to tolerate these unnecessary delays, and they should certainly not be expected to shoulder the responsibility of this government's mismanagement of the biggest infrastructure project in South Australian history. The delays to this project will inevitably mean cost blowouts to this project, and the people of South Australia will end up paying. The South Australian Labor government needs to rule out any further delays to this crucial project and come clean on whether any design changes will result in more people losing their homes and their businesses and, if so, where?

In 16 years, we know that Labor failed to even initiate a business case for Torrens to Darlington. In four years, the former Liberal government completed an extensive business case, funded planning and early works to the tune of over $200 million and secured the federal government's commitment to a fifty-fifty share of the construction cost. The Marshall Liberal government was even successful in securing $2.26 billion to complete the final stage of Torrens to Darlington.

We know that the government pulled out the old cheeky Friday night drop to the media, dropping what was obviously a farcical release to media. I am sure they had hoped that that would be the end of it, that the people of this state would stop talking about it and that the media would stop talking about it. But, alas, on Saturday we were still talking about it, on Sunday we were still talking about it, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and we are still talking about it—and we are going to continue to talk about it. This is the biggest piece of economic vandalism that I believe I have ever seen by a government in South Australia's recent political history, with the biggest and most expensive infrastructure project in South Australian history. On the eve of the state budget, the government is doing this.

We know that millions and millions of dollars have been moved away from the biggest infrastructure project in South Australian history to prop up their election commitments. It is a scandal, nothing less than a complete scandal. We will continue to keep the house updated, and we will continue to probe this to the bottom because the people of South Australia deserve better. This government needs to get on with the job of delivering the Torrens to Darlington arm and doing so on time and on budget.

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