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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-06-02 Daily Xml
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Augusta Highway

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (14:52): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. I wonder if the minister might update this house about the government's plans for the duplication of the Augusta Highway as it progresses through Lochiel? With your leave, and that of the house, I will explain further.

Leave granted.

Mr ELLIS: The duplication of the Augusta Highway is progressing apace towards Lochiel and some members of the community are still in the dark about how those four lanes will fit through the existing road corridor.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:52): I want to thank the member for Narungga for his question, a keen advocate and a successful advocate for infrastructure in his local community. He has done a lot for his local community in terms of infrastructure, and I am very keen to see how this program has progressed. I have been asking the department for updates. I note that the member is very keen to get a better understanding about how this integrates with the local community.

Consultation is being undertaken on a continuous basis with the local community to make sure that we get this alignment correct and right. I give credit to the former government on the work they did to duplicate to Lochiel. The question is that the Augusta Highway ends up in a place called Port Augusta and it is important that we look at the options of continuing that duplication. It is a road of regional importance, it does open up our regional communities and it's a very important commodity in the Gawler Craton called copper, a critical mineral that will assist greatly in the transition to a low-carbon future.

I know that local communities throughout regional South Australia are very keen to see more work done on duplications of our highways in regional South Australia. I think duplication of our highways is a very important matter that we need more work done on. Unfortunately, a lot of planning work for the rest of the route hadn't been completed, so I am very keen to see that work done. That's not a criticism of the former government; it's just a statement of fact.

I am keen to work with the local members throughout that community, including the member for Narungga, the member for Stuart, the member for Frome and of course the member for Giles, because this is important—and the member for Flinders, who got here by the skin of his teeth. He just got here, a near-death experience, still suffering some post-traumatic stress from the election campaign.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Flinders!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It's okay. Don't worry, it's over now.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Only 3½ years to go.

Mr Pederick: You wouldn't even know where Ungarra was.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: What was that?

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Hammond! The minister will not respond to interjections. The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I'm sensing some more post-traumatic stress from other members who also faced near-death experiences during the last election campaign. It seems to me that the voices of regional South Australia will be heard by this government. I'm not making any commitments for this budget, which will be delivered very, very soon by the Treasurer, but I do commit to the member and the house to keep him and his community informed about upgrades to the Augusta Highway.

I do make this commitment: if members have suggestions that they want to make about alignments, about interactions within the community, about the Augusta Highway, my door is open. I am more than happy to work with regional communities on regional highways because they are vitally important for regional economies. I thank the member for raising this question and I thank him for keeping it on the agenda here in the parliament. It is the first question I have received as transport and infrastructure minister about a regional highway, so I thank the independent member for Narungga for that question and for keeping regional roads on the agenda.

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