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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-10-19 Daily Xml
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Regional Roads

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (15:28): Our regional roads connect us all. There are thousands upon thousands of kilometres of roads right across our state. Locals, particularly in the regions, tend to know these roads like the back of their hands, so when they raise an issue with you about road safety or a condition of the road, you listen and you do everything within your power to take action. I have been contacted by locals right across my community who are rightly concerned about the disgusting state of the Eden Valley Road, particularly between Eden Valley and Springton, in my electorate of Schubert. To say that it is disgusting and appalling is, frankly, an understatement.

Locals have reported not only multiple accidents, or accidents that have been missed by some pretty studious driving, but also some vehicle damage as a result of locals swerving as best they can to miss these dreadful and really large potholes situated in the middle of Springton and Eden Valley roads. This is a critical route for our region, and it is an important thoroughfare for locals, for farmers and, in particular, for our visitors. At the moment, it is not good enough—in fact, it is downright dangerous.

It is critical for locals who are travelling to and from work or for school, and for people who are travelling right across our region for sport, and for tourists who are coming to visit all that we have to offer here in the Barossa. Unfortunately, the condition of the road continues to drastically deteriorate. It has been crumbling for many months, largely due to the weather; obviously it has been a wet season, but that is not an excuse. We need action on this regional road, and that is exactly what I have been calling for.

Many of these potholes have been filled in once the emergency line was contacted by locals, but it is quite clear that a long-term fix is exactly what is needed—some regular maintenance that is occurring around the clock, a long-term solution of repair that is going to ensure that this road is kept up to the best possible state.

In fact, I have today spoken to the Minister for Regional Roads, the member for Stuart, Geoff Brock, and he has given the undertaking that he will pursue this matter, and of course I am really greatly appreciative of that. I would also like to acknowledge the work of The Barossa Council, who have also taken it upon themselves to raise this directly with the department. I would like to acknowledge the work of Barossa Valley Mayor, Bim Lange, in that regard.

The former Liberal government ploughed through a whopping $750 million road maintenance backlog left by the former Labor government. We upgraded roads right across South Australia—particularly in the regions, including in my electorate of Schubert. However, make no mistake about it: there is so much more work that needs to be done. That is exactly what we are focused on advocating for on behalf of all our local communities here.

That is why it was particularly disappointing that our funding for regional roads in this new government's first budget fell so spectacularly short. Of the $7.83 billion budgeted for roads over the next four years, just $467.4 million is going towards our regional roads. That is just 6 per cent allocated towards our regional roads. I just think that is absolutely appalling because we have to do everything that we possibly can within our power to ensure that we have safer and better regional roads because they do connect us all.

In particular, I would like to thank all of those members of my community who have contacted me. I would like to thank the Leader newspaper, who have done a remarkable job in shining a light on this issue as well. Action does need to be taken. From my perspective, from the perspective of The Barossa Council, we will be holding the government to account and making sure that the department does everything it can to ensure that this critical road is fixed, and it is just the beginning.

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