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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-15 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Jetty Road Upgrade

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (15:10): There is something the people of Glenelg and the surrounding community are starting to recognise under this Labor government and, in particular, the Premier: if the Premier actually does come to Glenelg, which is very rare, it is only for a photo opportunity. He is there using our jetty and beaches as the postcard backdrop for his press conferences and the glossy tourism campaigns, but when it comes to actually investing in Glenelg and our traders, our infrastructure and our coastline, the Premier is nowhere to be seen.

Let's look at what is really happening at Glenelg right now while the tramline is closed. The federal government has put money on the table for the Jetty Road upgrade. The City of Holdfast Bay is contributing ratepayer funds. However, the Malinauskas Labor government is contributing zero dollars to this project. The state government, the one that should be standing up for South Australia's premier coastal destination, has refused to chip in a single cent. This is despite the fact that Glenelg is not just a local shopping strip, it is a state asset and a tourism attraction at a local level, at a national level and, importantly, at a state level.

Back in 2024 when the council first announced the upgrade to Jetty Road, I was outspoken in saying that ratepayers could not afford a huge rate rise during Labor's cost-of-living crisis and the council needed to pause and produce detailed designs to then consult with the community, but also that the state government should contribute. All levels, especially the state government, should be helping to fund this tourism asset rather than allowing the burden to fall mostly on ratepayers. What is worse is that this is the same Premier who cut $20 million of funding that the former Liberal government had allocated to Glenelg. Labor ripped it away.

But Labor has form in letting our community down. When the Premier was in charge as the police minister, the Glenelg Police Station had its operating hours slashed from seven days a week to only operate between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. While this Premier and his ministers are busy taking selfies on the sand, Jetty Road traders are doing it tough while the upgrades are underway and the tramline is closed. Businesses that have served our community for years are now struggling to keep their doors open.

The Malinauskas Labor government is completely missing in action, wilfully ignorant about the impact on local traders of the tram being closed—the main economic artery bringing visitors to the Bay. We saw the huge pressure on business when the tram was closed for just three weeks in 2017. Now the tram is closed for six months, including during the summer months when businesses do most of their trade for the year. The small business minister had to be dragged down to meet the Jetty Road traders only two days before the tram was closed, yet offered no solutions and no assistance then, and we are still waiting. The chair of the Jetty Road traders' association, Gilia Martin, had this to say last week:

This time we are closed the tram for six months because of the State Government tram separation project and we have had zero support from our State Government. This is a huge impact for our traders and our 330 businesses on Jetty Road.

So while small business owners on Jetty Road are pleading for help, the Premier's answer has been silence.

When it comes to support for Glenelg during the harmful algal bloom, it is a similar story. In July, with the harmful algal bloom increasing in intensity and the state Labor government fumbling its response, thousands of dead marine animals were washing up on Glenelg's beaches. While Peter Malinauskas was on holiday, I was visiting our beaches regularly to see firsthand the devastation on marine life. So when the Premier belatedly comes to Glenelg not to support Jetty Road but to buy his way out of mismanaging the algal bloom crisis, I say this: you cannot keep using Glenelg as a backdrop for your photo-ops while turning your back on the people who live and work there.

The Liberal Party understands that Glenelg is not just a local landmark; it is part of our state's identity because our community is worth supporting. It is a community that I have lived and worked in for over 20 years. That is why I will keep fighting, and the Liberal Party will keep fighting, to make sure that my community gets the investment that it deserves.

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