Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-15 Daily Xml

Contents

Regional Roads

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Regional Development about regional roads.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: It was reported at the Australian Financial Review National Infrastructure Summit this week that the Infrastructure Australia chief executive told those who attended the summit that he is expecting the Albanese government to cut billions of dollars' worth of projects. My questions to the minister are:

1. As the Minister for Regional Development, will the minister ensure that projects of strategic importance, such as the Truro bypass or the regional roads package of safety works, which are funded on an 80:20 basis with the federal government, will not be abandoned?

2. Can the minister provide a guarantee to SA regional communities that funding for rural roads will not be compromised by the Albanese government to cut billions of dollars of funding?

3. Has the minister or the state government received a formal update from the federal government to outline which road project fundings in South Australia will be affected?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for her question. It is clear that the former federal Coalition government made a lot of promises but failed to adequately budget to deliver them and this is a failure that we also saw at a state level under the former Marshall Liberal government leading to projects that were undercosted—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —and inadequately planned.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: They were undercosted and inadequately planned.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Having taken the time to fix these issues, with projects such as the north-south corridor, we acknowledge the efforts of Minister King to undertake this review process. We await the outcome of the federal government's review, at which time we will respond accordingly.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Supplementary.

The PRESIDENT: Well, I will listen, but I didn't hear much of the answer.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I wasn't inviting comment from both of you. The Hon. Ms Girolamo, what is your supplementary question?