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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-21 Daily Xml
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Torrens to Darlington Project

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (14:23): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister update the house on community consultation regarding the updated reference design for the Torrens to Darlington project?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:24): I acknowledge the member for Badcoe's advocacy for her constituents and the community of Badcoe on this matter. It has been a remarkable level of engagement, sometimes intense. Nevertheless, the member for Elder and the member for Badcoe are keen advocates for their community on this very important, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our state, and they have been fierce advocates.

I remind the house that community consultation on design changes closes this month, and I can inform the house that to date the Department for Infrastructure and Transport has had more than 5,000 face-to-face interactions with the community in a various range of settings. Interactions have occurred at the project's community information centres based on South Road, Clovelly Park, and a pop-up centre at the Brickworks Marketplace in Torrensville. One of the 11 community information sessions was held at the Torrens to Darlington community information centre at Clovelly Park. Also, at the West Adelaide Football Club, at the pop-up information stalls at the Marion shopping centre, Castle Plaza—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —Churchill Centre, the Kurralta Park shopping centre, or by booking one-on-one meetings with the project team at either the Thebarton Community Centre, the Torrens to Darlington community information centre, Clovelly Park, or at the Glandore Community Centre. These centres, stalls and information sessions have had detailed maps, images and animations, as well as the project staff who are designing the works on hand to answer questions that the public may have had.

Of course, the public can also provide their feedback on design changes by completing online surveys. The online surveys have had more than 800 responses to date, with over 68 per cent of respondents overall feeling very positive or positive about the project. Around 70 per cent of respondents found the latest round of information about the project, updating them on the outcomes of the project, to be very useful. Around 86 per cent of the respondents are feeling more positive or as positive as before towards the project as a result of the design changes.

Contrary to some criticism from members opposite about the transparency and scrutiny of the project based on these statistics, our engagement on the project has been extensive and well received. Also, the Public Works Committee—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: That's a good interjection. The Public Works Committee reviewed and referenced the previous government's design and consultation, and was critical—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —and how do I know this? How do I know this? Because I was on it. And I just point out to members opposite—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Chaffey is on a final warning.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —how was it that the opposition, a minority on that committee, got an inquiry up into the South Road project.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: How? Division.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Contrary to recent criticisms, the member for Hartley himself also attended community information sessions at Clovelly Park.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hartley is on a final warning.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It was very, very good to see him along to learn lots about the projects, and he is welcome to have his contributions on there. I am very pleased that he made the time to come along. We will be providing information, answering questions and gaining insights from the public because we care about what the public think about this project, which is why now it is so overwhelmingly popular amongst people who live along the corridor, as opposed to the way they felt about it before the election. There has been a dramatic shift in sentiment, and 19 March is a large part of that shift.

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