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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-11-28 Daily Xml
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Schubert Electorate

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (15:33): I would like to talk to the chamber today about a few local issues that are going on in my community. I will start first of all with hoon driving, which is running rampant throughout the northern part of the Adelaide Hills. Last year I held a very well attended community forum on road safety in my electorate. One of the number one issues that was raised with me was the sheer prevalence of hoon driving and the fact that nothing was being done to stamp it out. I am disappointed to report to the chamber that really, since that time there has been no action to stamp out hoon driving in my community.

There are a couple of really notorious spots in my electorate, namely the Chain of Ponds junction that is frequented by many people who visit the Adelaide Hills—I am sure many people do because it is such a perfect spot. Particularly on Monday mornings after the weekend, there are tyre marks, there is debris and there are so many burnout marks that it actually does emulate what you would expect to see at the Adelaide 500. Despite having raised this with the government and directly with Minister Cregan on several occasions, there has been no action.

There have been a couple of really reasonable solutions that have been put forward to me by my local constituents. Some of them relate to having a safety camera put at the Chain of Ponds juncture. There is actually a pot of money that is sitting within the state budget at the moment for this exact thing. Again, I have raised this with the minister and the response that I received, even six months after it was announced in the state budget, was that they are still considering where these cameras would go.

I think it is about time that the government provides clarity to communities like mine as to whether a safety camera can be installed as a deterrent. It also relates to the idea of having a concrete median strip throughout Chain of Ponds. This is a relatively low-cost and practical solution that has been raised by a constituent because it really would mitigate the opportunity for hoon drivers to do their burnouts at this particular spot.

There is also new technology, which is essentially anti-hoon bars: different texture that is put throughout the junction which might prohibit and stop hoon drivers from apparently getting—and I do not understand it—an adrenaline rush from doing their burnouts. Of course, we have the ongoing issue that the member for Bragg has been prosecuting in this place which comes down to police presence in the area. Like it or lump it, there is a general community consensus that there are not enough police to actually have the presence to deter this type of behaviour in our community.

Part of it, I think, comes down to the practical reality of the Chain of Ponds area. We are, of course, talking about Tippett Road, South Para Road and North East Road. It is very difficult for police to be policing there and sitting stationary, but not around the Chain of Ponds area. I would like to see action on that topic and it is something that I will keep working on with the local community to bring it to the public realm.

We have also had a recent win in the community that I also represent, which is the Barossa Valley, and that relates to rideshare being able to operate in the Barossa. It might surprise many members in this place, but despite rideshare being able to operate in places like McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills, Mount Barker, Gawler and the city, it has not been able to operate in the state's premier tourist region of the Barossa Valley. I think that is a massive oversight and so too did my local community.

This was evidenced by a survey that I did on this very issue asking people a very simple question about whether they would like rideshare companies like Uber to operate in the Barossa. I got nearly 3,000 people responding to that in a short period of time, and 95 per cent of respondents said, 'Absolutely, we want choice in how we travel.' So I am really pleased that after some initial resistance, rideshare companies like Uber will be able to operate in the Barossa. It is a big tick for business and it is a big tick for people who want to enjoy what we have to offer, so I encourage people to utilise that when it comes into effect. I hope it is here before Christmas, but I am not holding my breath.

Then, of course, this week we had public confirmation that the final business case for the Barossa hospital is sitting with state cabinet. This is a really critical step. We now know that the money that the former Liberal government put in the budget to purchase that hospital land is also available. Time is of the essence to secure it and I would encourage the government to make that a priority in the weeks ahead.

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