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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-05-09 Daily Xml
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Transport Infrastructure

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:14): My question is to the Treasurer. Of the $1.8 billion that was supposedly promised for transport projects in South Australia, has even 10 per cent of that been budgeted for in the forward estimates? Can the Treasurer indicate whether the South Australian government has only started talks today with the federal government on allocating more than 10 per cent over the next four years?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:15): The issues in relation to commonwealth budget infrastructure spending have been the subject of ongoing discussions in the short period that we have been in government, but obviously the decisions were announced last night and discussions now move into a new stage. The Premier, by way of ministerial statement today, made it quite clear that the South Australian government is happy with the quantum of funding that has been won for South Australia—$1.8 billion for transport-related projects—particularly when the former minister for transport said, after last year's budget, that he hadn't been able to get one extra dollar for South Australia.

On the one hand, the former government said they couldn't get one extra dollar; in this particular budget there is an aggregate spend of $1.8 billion projected. The government is happy with the aggregate. We are happy with the projects that have been selected. The next stage of the negotiations is to bring forward the expenditure—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Excuse me, Treasurer. Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, stop baiting the Leader of the Opposition, and vice versa. Treasurer.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The next stage of the negotiations is to bring forward, or reprofile, to use the phrase the former Labor government in South Australia used, some of that expenditure into the earlier years. That will be possible for some projects, but sadly, because of the ineptitude and the financial incompetence of the former government in not completing business cases for the projects on South Road between Darlington and the River Torrens, which were essential parts of Infrastructure Australia requirements, the new government will have to undertake those business cases, and that is a large chunk of the $1.8 billion—that's $1.2 billion that is being held up because the former government didn't undertake those business cases.

In relation to the others where there has been a business case either completed or substantially completed, we are conducting negotiations with the commonwealth. Can I indicate to the council that on the most recent project that is still being undertaken, the Northern Connector, the former state government, in negotiation with the federal government, reprofiled, or brought forward, the expenditure of money some two or three years earlier than had originally been announced as a result of negotiations.

That is, at the time of around about 2015-16, there was projected expenditure in 2018-19, and what happened was that through a renegotiation that money was brought forward, because the state was in a position to be able to complete the Northern Connector project at an earlier stage than had originally been projected. Exactly the same process will be used by the government, that is, there is money out there in the forward—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Out there somewhere.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Exactly the same as the Northern Connector, which was a project overseen by your government, the honourable Leader of the Opposition. As your government did with the federal government, brought forward expenditure, we will be seeking to negotiate to bring forward expenditure as well.

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