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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-27 Daily Xml
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Flinders Electorate

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:12): Investment into our regional road network across South Australia is vital for the economic drive of our state. Roads are the physical connection, for those of us in regional areas who are part of productive regional businesses, to get our high-quality products to market. Having safe roads is incredibly important for keeping our regional community members safe which is, I think, especially pertinent in a year like this where we have seen an extremely distressing state road toll level.

In my electorate of Flinders we have seen the previous government put significant investment into the Lincoln Highway, the Tod Highway, the Eyre Highway, the Birdseye Highway—all of these have been very welcomed by the members of my community who use those roads so much. The kilometres which are covered in my area can often amaze those who only get to travel the short span of roads here in the city. We get used to having to deal with all sorts of road conditions. The shoulder sealing and the repair work on those four highways I mentioned in particular have made sure that these roads are safer for all users, no matter what type of vehicle they are in.

Today, I want to bring the government's attention to the road condition of the Flinders Highway. The Flinders Highway traverses the West Coast from Ceduna to Streaky Bay to Elliston and down to Port Lincoln. If you have not been on that road, let me encourage you to do so. Take the time to travel to that incredible area. It is better than the Great Ocean Road. It is an unbeliveably scenic and picturesque area of our state which is not visited by enough people.

Flinders Highway, which goes down the West Coast, is an incredibly important road which needs to have investment. It sees heavy vehicles, caravans, cars, freight movement all along that road, and that is why we need to see the government put money into it. If you travel along it, as I do quite often, there are areas where you can see significant drop-offs on the edge of the road, leading to a dangerously narrow road, which puts at risk the users of that road.

I am encouraging—in fact, even imploring—the government to invest in the Flinders Highway. A wider road is needed, especially in the area south of Elliston and the section between Streaky Bay and Ceduna. It is a dangerous situation that I fear is going to lead to a significant accident or put my community members at risk. This part of the state contributes so much to our state's economy, and that contribution should be reflected with increased levels of investment into our road network, especially along the Flinders Highway.

I want to take a couple of minutes today to speak about the life of an incredibly important man from my community who sadly lost his health battle a few weeks ago at age 56: Darryn 'DJ' Johnston. I give my deepest sympathy and love to his wife of over 30 years, Leanne; his children, Rachel, Morne, James, Caleb and Joshua; and grandkids, Ezra and Asa; as well as DJ's sisters, Leanne and Sue, their families and his father, Norm.

It was a few weeks ago that hundreds gathered from all across the community to commemorate this great man. They packed out the new Port Lincoln Baptist Church. The church was full, the back was full and it spilled out into the outside area. There were people from all across the community, from all walks of life, many of whom seemingly had no connection with each other but they all had a connection with DJ.

He spent many years working across Eyre Peninsula, including for agricultural company Elders. He was a regular at ram sales, a man who travelled across EP working in rural real estate. He loved his community, he loved his sport, he loved his football. He was the sort of man who knew everyone in the community. But, number one, he loved his family and he loved his God. He was a man of amazing faith, and that was brought out in the service to commemorate his life. To finish, the verse from 2 Timothy 4:7 came to mind:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

We can certainly say that about Darryn 'DJ' Johnston.

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