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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-04 Daily Xml
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Morphett Road Level Crossing

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Will the government deliver a grade separation for the Morphett Road tram crossing? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PATTERSON: Constituents have asked for a grade separation for the Morphett Road tram crossing while the Glenelg tramline is closed for up to nine months due to the Marion and Cross roads grade separation.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:02): I find it interesting that the member is advocating for a grade separation in his electorate. I wonder where those calls were for the last four years? They were pretty silent.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Florey! Member for Newland!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: 'Can you fix in the first four months what we couldn't do in the last four years?' Right, yes, I understand. I also point out to the house that the previous government also planned to close the Glenelg tramline to upgrade the overpass over South Road. So they had planned this closure and still didn't plan to do the grade separation at Morphett Road, yet here is the shadow minister getting up and asking, 'Will you please do it now, sir? Please?' It's a bit like Majors Road.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Majors Road was a key election promise in 2018. The member for Black was going to put all his resources into it—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, there is a point of order from the member for Morialta.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98: impersonations of members, diversions to other topics—it's debate.

The SPEAKER: There is some force in the matter that the member for Morialta raises with me. I bring the minister back to the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: There are a number of grade separations that were cancelled. I think it's fair to say that from 19 March 2022 right back to 18 March 2018 there were a number of grade separations that were planned and cancelled, and now the opposition are asking us to look at Morphett Road. I will check my correspondence. I don't think I have received a letter from the member for Morphett regarding—

Mr Patterson: I think you have.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I have?

Mr Patterson: Yes.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I stand corrected. If I have received correspondence—the member for Morphett says that he has written to me on this grade separation. I will go back and check. If I have inadvertently led him astray, I apologise. I don't remember seeing that correspondence, but I will go back and check.

Grade separations are something the government is very, very keen on, which is why we are doing Marion and Cross roads, which is a great partnership with the commonwealth government, and we are also upgrading the South Road crossing. So, yes, the tramline will be closed for a period of time. It does leave us with an opportunity to look at other grade separations. The other opportunities that have gone missing are the grade separation at Hove, which failed, and the Majors Road grade separation, which would have allowed access to the Southern Expressway and which was cancelled but reinstated by us.

These do offer local communities a great deal of support. It is an opportunity, I think, at Morphett Road, if you look at that, given what the Morphettville Racehorse has been planning there for some time. I know that the shadow minister has been briefed at length. I know that the previous government was briefed on the potential expansion. I don't remember at the last election there being a policy taken to that election to grade separate Morphett Road, to facilitate—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: One or four, it doesn't really matter. I will look at all grade separations across the network. I know that there are a number of communities who have been starved of infrastructure works by the previous government and who are looking to us to try to do what the previous government couldn't or wouldn't do. We will look at all of those because that's the type of government we are.

No matter where you live, no matter how you vote, no matter where your community is, we are interested in making sure that we have needs-based solutions for infrastructure for people who are crying out for infrastructure solutions. The people of Morphett have been doing it tough for—how long have you been elected? A long time, a long time. We want to make sure that they finally get the representation they deserve. No doubt, we will be putting our best foot forward at the next election to make sure that the people of Morphett have good representation.

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