Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have a number of questions to ask the minister. But, firstly, I would like to say that the seat of Kingston is in the outer metropolitan suburbs of Adelaide. So I was very pleased, after being elected and after lobbying very hard for the rail extension from Noarlunga to Seaford, that it was this government that funded that rail extension. The people in the southern suburbs of Adelaide have been waiting for over 30 years for this rail extension. The corridor has existed for 30 years and there has been community campaigning on this rail extension for many years.

The southern suburbs of Adelaide have been growing at an enormous pace. There are lots of new suburbs—places like Seaford Meadows and Seaford Rise—but the infrastructure over the last 10 to 20 years has not kept up with that. This was something that the residents very much wanted to know about. So it was very pleasing that it took the election of a Rudd Labor government to commit $291 million to extend the rail line. This has been welcomed because it is very much needed. Residents need to be able to get around. It takes approximately 45 minutes, sometimes longer in peak hour traffic, to get to the CBD. On this new rail line, which will be electrified—which will be a first in Adelaide, because our train lines in the metropolitan area are not electrified—people will be able to easily get into the city. Not only will it ease urban congestion caused by cars on the road; it will also go a long way to making it more affordable for people to go out and buy their first house. A lot of the people moving out to these suburbs are first home buyers and they do need the ease of affordable living on an ongoing basis. This rail line will certainly provide that.

On a trivial note, but something that the people of Kingston are very excited about, the rail bridge that is part of the rail extension will be 0.1 kilometres longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is some source of pride for the people of Kingston that they will have a very long bridge.

In addition, there has been a lot of talk about road funding, and certainly I know that the people of Kingston have welcomed significant investment from this government in road funding. One of the big projects that was committed to while we were in opposition was the Main South Road-Seaford Road-Victor Harbour Road intersection. I was very pleased to go up this weekend and see the lights installed at that intersection, as we are improving the movement of traffic. This is a very popular route for getting up to McLaren Vale that this government promised in opposition and is delivering in government. I was also very pleased that we did not just commit to road funding while we were in opposition; we continue to commit to road funding. I was very, very pleased to join with the Prime Minister in March to announce funding to improve a very dangerous intersection—the Main South Road-Victor Harbour intersection. So we are seeing really significant funding from this government.

It is disappointing that the previous government did not invest in infrastructure in Kingston. I think that is a real black mark against the previous government. While the suburbs were growing, the previous government did nothing. But what is more concerning to the people of Kingston, and certainly to me as the local member, is whether the rail extension from Noarlunga to Seaford is under threat. We know—as the previous speaker, the member for Corangamite, mentioned—that the opposition are very unclear about what projects they will continue and what projects will be under threat. While this government is getting on with the job and actually delivering projects, I am not sure—and the residents in my electorate are not sure—whether or not the rail extension to Seaford or in fact the Victor Harbour Road safety upgrade will be one of those discontinued items. Is there an asterisk next to these projects that means that they will be discontinued? The people in Kingston spent 12 years under the previous government not getting infrastructure. They are now starting to see infrastructure being delivered on the ground. I ask the minister to update us further on some of these infrastructure spends.

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