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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-12-06 Daily Xml
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Road Maintenance

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:37): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Road Safety a question about road infrastructure.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Looking after roads in South Australia is a shared responsibility of all levels of government and something that is a matter of utter importance for driver safety. Anyone who has driven on a country road like Kulpara to Maitland, Myponga to Willunga Hill or, indeed, during the wet winter we've just had, Echunga to Meadows, would note those as examples of state government roads in a very bad state of repair.

People attest to the fact that our roads need more attention, and this is not just my opinion. A recent RAA survey shows that the majority of South Australians believe that the government should pay greater attention to fixing this state's appalling road infrastructure, particularly our country roads. My questions to the minister are:

1. The RAA's General Manager for Innovation and Engagement says that nearly 40 per cent of South Australia's highways have a safety rating of just one or two stars. Besides putting more fixed speed cameras on our roads, what is the government doing to address the state of our country roads, highways and freeways to make them safe for motorists to drive on?

2. Losing control of a vehicle accounted for 59 per cent of all fatal and serious injury crashes on rural roads between 2008 and 2010, and unsealed road shoulders were a major contributor to this unsettling figure. Can the minister tell members how many kilometres of rural road shoulders have been sealed so far, as outlined as a priority in the document Towards Zero Together: South Australia's Road Safety Strategy 2020?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:39): I thank the honourable member for his question. I acknowledge his interest in road safety generally and the status of roads in regional South Australia. The state government shares the passion of the Hon. Mr Brokenshire when it comes to improving road safety, as do most South Australians. The state government's record in respect of a range of different measures to try to reduce our road toll and the number of serious injuries that occur on our roads is particularly strong.

In the context of the Hon. Mr Brokenshire's immediate question regarding what we are doing about fixing regional roads, the answer is plenty. Throughout the course of this financial year, $202 million has been allocated to improve and maintain regional roads in South Australia. Of this, the state government has allocated around $110 million specifically, in conjunction with the feds, who have allocated approximately $92 million. Spending to be undertaken on regional roads includes:

$31.3 million towards upgrading roads in the APY lands;

$10 million to improve critical road infrastructure, and continuation of freight productivity and safety improvements on the Sturt Highway;

$64 million under the annual Asset Improvement Program, including rural intersection upgrades, road section improvements, shoulder sealing, rest area upgrades and rural and remote road improvements in outback South Australia;

$18.3 million for freight access road improvement projects, including a roundabout at the Copper Coast Highway and Yorke Highway junction, two new overtaking lanes and targeted road widening on the Yorke Highway, and other priority projects identified as part of the 90-day agricultural project;

$16 million on regional roads under the annual asset management program; and

$6 million towards the Bald Hills Road interchange on the South Eastern Freeway at Mount Barker.

Of course, this is on top of a whole range of different measures and a similarly long list that the government saw take place during the course of last financial year. Addressing road safety in our regions really needs a multifaceted approach beyond just investing in rural roads. Maintaining roads and investments in things like shoulder sealing are clearly critical to improving road safety on our regional roads.

The honourable member I think may have pointed out that a very significant proportion of road deaths in South Australia—indeed, a disproportionate number—occur on our regional roads, and those are deaths of people from our regions. The more we can do in these areas the better, but it is about more than just investing in new roads. It is also about making sure that we are addressing issues of cultural change within drivers and the attitudes they have to their own safety on the road as they navigate our extensive regional road network.

That speaks to other issues, of course, like speeding. The honourable member referred to the government's investment in road safety cameras; we know that these make a difference. It does not take a political scientist to work out that speed cameras are not universally popular. Clearly, they do not have enormous popular support within the community, but make no mistake: they are absolutely a key feature in ensuring that we do see cultural change taking place when it comes to driving attitudes. Some reports demonstrate that this is making a difference, which is one of the reasons we are seeing a decline in areas in terms of the number of people speeding within our community.

That, in no small part, has something to do with people changing their behaviour on the back of the prospect of being caught if they do speed and compromise the safety of their own lives and those of other road users as well. So, it needs to be a multifaceted approach. We need to have an enforcement element to this. We need to have an educational element to people's attitudes regarding road safety. Then, of course, there needs to be a subsequent investment back into the community and back into road infrastructure to ensure that, if an error of judgement does take place on regional roads, the likelihood of survival is maximised.

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