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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-05-16 Daily Xml
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Monarto Transport Hub

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:52): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation a question about the master plan and the transport hub at Monarto.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Going back now in excess of 20 years, direct efforts have been made to create a transport hub, which is now back—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Don't be put off by interjections by the opposition. Continue, Mr Brokenshire.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Thank you, Mr President.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: It is now being backed up by a master plan endorsed by several councils in the area, including Mount Barker and Murray Bridge. As recently as yesterday we saw the debacle when we try to bring freight through the suburbs and the Adelaide Hills, where we saw transport held up for over two hours as a result of one engine breakdown on a locomotive. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has the government got its head around this master plan, and is it in support of the intermodal master plan?

2. Does the government agree that it would be a good idea to try to logistically locate the freight hub at Monarto?

3. Has the government, if it does endorse the master plan and is in favour of growth there, been in touch with existing businesses, like Woolworths distribution centre, to assure them that there is an absolute commitment from the state government to grow the opportunities there?

4. When does the government intend to see a real intent in the growth of those opportunities with the transport hub at Monarto, if it supports it?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for his questions. No, I am not aware of the 20-year-old proposal or plan or policy that the honourable member refers to, but I am happy to find out information about today's thoughts on his 20-year-old plan that he refers to. I am more than happy to go away and talk to, I assume, the transport minister and bring back a reply for him about that.

He talks also about the plan to reroute rail, which is a bit of a tongue twister, and I note as soon as, I think, the Globe Link plan was announced, the Freight Council—the peak body—came out and poured cold water on it. The opposition's brain fade of one policy—let's be frank about it—was designed to try to protect some of their seats from the Nick Xenophon Team in the Adelaide Hills.

Let's understand exactly what this was about. The Globe Link plan that was announced to try to save a couple of seats from Nick Xenophon would cost billions and billions of dollars. The peak body, the Freight Council, thought it was a stupid idea. It was their one plan, and the peak body poured cold water on it straightaway. But I am happy to go back and have a look at the 20-year-old idea around Monarto.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Supplementary, sir?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Brokenshire has the floor.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The honourable Leader of the Opposition, desist—

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Thank you, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: —and will the honourable ministers desist and allow the Hon. Mr Brokenshire to ask his supplementary.

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