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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-09-08 Daily Xml
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Public Works Committee: North-South Corridor Darlington Upgrade Project

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:25): I move:

That the fourth report of the committee, entitled 'An inquiry into the north-south corridor—Torrens to Darlington tunnels', be noted.

On 4 November 2021, the Public Works Committee resolved to inquire and report into the impact of the Torrens to Darlington (otherwise known as T2D) phase of the larger north-south corridor project aimed at addressing traffic congestion. The inquiry received 17 written submissions from property owners, community groups, local residents, academics and the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport, also known as DIT.

On 16 December to 2021, 15 witnesses appeared at a public hearing at Old Parliament House held in conjunction with another inquiry on intersection works and compulsory acquisition. Although there have been significant developments in the Torrens to Darlington phase of the north-south corridor project this year, the report examined evidence provided in November and December 2021.

The proposed reference design at the time incorporated the combination of tunnels, lowered and ground-level motorways, as well as overpasses and underpasses at key intersections. As such, the report presents a snapshot of the project at a specific point in time.

The previous committee of the Fifty-Fourth Parliament launched this inquiry to evaluate the effectiveness of DIT's processes and consider their impacts on the community. It found that the department's handling of the T2D project created confusion, anxiety and doubt in the community, and undermined trust between the public and the state government.

The inquiry focused heavily on the compulsory acquisition process. The committee heard that 393 residential, commercial, industrial, local government and state government properties would be acquired for the T2D project. At the time of the inquiry, property owners had only recently received their notifications and the process had not progressed to the valuation stage.

The committee heard that residents and business owners received inadequate explanation of the rationale used to select properties for compulsory acquisition. Witnesses and submitters provided evidence of one or two homes left to remain standing on streets or entire blocks while all other properties were to be acquired. The remaining home owners expressed significant anxiety over diminished property values and reduced rental incomes.

Those issued with notifications of acquisition expressed great concern with DIT's methodology for calculating fair compensation payments given recent movements in the real estate market. Home owners worried their payments would be too low to purchase like-for-like homes in the same areas, making it difficult to remain close to their schools, family and community.

The T2D project's lengthy time line had the potential to result in unfair compensation for home owners, considering that the period between valuation and acquisition could be years. This report provides an opportunity for DIT to implement cultural change in their interactions with the public. The committee heard evidence of a mismanaged communications process, with some residents first hearing about key project information from the media, not receiving responses to their inquiries, or signing up for distribution lists that never provided project updates.

DIT handpicked community and business reference groups to inform the reference design but failed to provide adequate information that would have vested them with agency. A major complaint consistently voiced was that DIT withheld the reference design from the reference groups and the public until all the property owners impacted by the compulsory acquisitions process had been notified.

Witnesses and submitters, with little opportunity to voice objections or agency to change the design, felt the consultation process was a pointless fait accompli. The inquiry also evaluated the alignment and position of the tunnel exits and entrances, also known as portals. DIT proposed these for Clovelly Park and Glandore for the southern tunnel and Hilton and Torrensville for the northern tunnel. The committee heard community objections to building the portals in these locations, considering the risk they posed to important and longstanding community organisations, such as the Torrensville Bowling Club and the Black Forest Scout Hall.

Overall, the committee examined evidence from an uncertain community fearful of leaving their neighbourhoods behind or staying to face prolonged disruption to their lives. The inquiry found that DIT exacerbated stressful situations by mismanaging their public engagement and consultation process and withholding information from the community.

The committee makes 13 recommendations to improve DIT's communication processes: promote genuine consultation on all DIT projects, ensure property owners will not be disadvantaged by long time lines, prioritise community input and enshrine greater clarity in the Land Acquisition Act 1969.

On behalf of the majority of the committee, I would like to thank the property owners, community groups, resident DIT staff and the Hon. John Darley for his valuable perspective as a former Valuer-General of South Australia. I would also like to highlight the contribution of the member for Badcoe for independently surveying her electorate with the inquiry's terms of reference. I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks to the members of the previous Public Works Committee in the Fifty-Fourth Parliament for their work on the inquiry.

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (11:30): What can I say? This particular project is nation-building infrastructure. There is a golden opportunity for this government to complete the north-south corridor to make sure that the people of the south and the south-west can get to where they want to go as soon as possible—whether it is to work or whether it is to spend time with their families. Instead, what do we have? We have a government that has sat on its hands for far too long in relation to this project.

We know that this is nation-building infrastructure. We know that this particular part of the north-south corridor is the most complex part of the north-south corridor, and that is why this government has left it far too long to do something about it. We know that independent bodies like Infrastructure South Australia and Infrastructure Australia had this project locked and loaded, ready to go and gave it the tick of approval.

The only thing that changed was the government of the day and the minister of the day. Unfortunately, the government sees fit to continue to tinker around the edges and change the design of the final part of the north-south corridor. We know that every single time you do something like this, what happens is the price goes up. The former government had half the cost factored in by our government and the other half by the federal government.

We know, unfortunately, given the shortage in supplies of material and also labour, that this project continues to blow out, both from a time point of view and a budget point of view. We are calling on the government to get on with the job and finish this project. My learned friend the member for Florey talks a little bit about anxiety. What does not help anxiety is continuing to sit on your hands, continuing to not make a decision, continuing to not issue the tender, continuing to keep people in the dark—whether it is commuters, who want to know what is going on, or whether it is businesses, who are already doing it tough out there, that do not know whether they are going to have a lease in the next year or two, or if they will have a business in the next year or two and, of course, residents.

We know that property prices have continued to rise and hold their value. Quite frankly, unless the government come to the table and get on with this job and communicates with these residents—where are these residents going to go? We know that over 390 properties have already been acquired to facilitate this project. We understand that you have to crack an egg to make an omelette, but the government need to get on with this. They cannot continue to delay this project, because what we are seeing at the moment is too much panic, too much anxiety.

What did the government do? As soon as they came in, the executive director of the project, a lady I have enormous respect for who has world-leading expertise, was obviously sacked from the project. The CEO of DIT was, of course, also moved on. That is a real shame because we know that there was a whole range of corporate knowledge that those two individuals had and that has been thrown out the window. That has not assisted with certainty and getting on with this project in an expeditious manner.

This is nation-building infrastructure, and the government has to get on with the job of delivering this project so that residents have certainty, so that businesses have certainty and so that commuters know what is going on. Anyone who has been alongside that part of South Road knows that the delays are far too extensive at the moment.

There is a way to fix it ,and that is by completing the north-south corridor that, once completed, will lead to an over 70-kilometre stretch of continuous motorway. It will be nation-leading infrastructure and the government has to get on with finishing the job. We say end the unnecessary delays in the project, end the unjustified and unnecessary movement of staff and end the cost blowouts—get on with it and fix it.

The member for Schubert and I have made some comments in dissent of the majority. It is important that the minority is not smothered by the majority. It is really important for this state that we have a strong opposition. That is why the member for Schubert and I will continue on this committee to hold the government to account to make sure that they make good decisions in the best interests of all South Australians.

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:35): I thank the member for Hartley for his contribution to the process and also acknowledge that he was kind enough to circulate his minority report out of time rather than just tabling it.

Motion carried.

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