Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I would like to congratulate my South Australian colleague the member for Grey for moving this motion today. He is a very hardworking and passionate local member and also a South Australian. I note also that the member for Barker is here in the chamber with us. All of us understand how important it is to get the South Australian economy back on track to look after our rural and regional areas. This project is very unique, because it has a significant strategic value to the South Australian economy and to the tourism industry, which is critical.

Now more than ever I think we need to be building productive infrastructure in South Australia so that we can start to reverse the very dire economic trends that our state has been suffering from. This project stands as one that will greatly improve road freight transport between South Australia and Queensland, unlocking significant potential to further develop job-creating industries in South Australia. A sealed Strzelecki Track will mean that thousands of head of cattle can she be shipped directly to South Australian abattoirs, creating growth in the food-processing industry. The member for Barker, of course, has in his electorate, in Thomas Foods, one of our most significant abattoirs and processors. Also, the ability for industry to use an all-weather road to and from the Cooper Basin will, of course, improve access to service industries for the oil and gas operations in Moomba and also over the border in Queensland.

Tourism is another industry that will benefit from a road that is sealed. Sealing the 472-kilometre stretch of road will provide a gateway from the Sunshine State to some of the nation's renowned salt lakes and the Flinders Ranges. A sealed track will also make it easier and, importantly, much safer for tourists to traverse remote Australia. We Australians know that you have to be really careful when you are travelling in the outback and we also know that sometimes tourists do not have the expertise to know how carefully you need to treat the outback.

As you can see, this is about much more than construction jobs. It is about a long-term, forward-thinking infrastructure project that will help grow our state's economy in the decades to come. With South Australia's unemployment rate, at 6.4 per cent, unfortunately still being well above the national average, a focus on job-creating infrastructure from the state Labor government cannot come quickly enough. And something that is outside of the CBD for once would also be nice! As someone who represents suburban South Australia and grew up in rural and regional South Australia, I think there is far too much emphasis from this state Labor government on the city centre. It is as if the rest of us do not exist, and quite frankly we have had enough of it. Also, of course, fixing up or bitumising the Strzelecki Track is about improving productivity and safety for those who use the road.

It is quite remarkable that the track is closed for about 45 days a year. Being a dirt road, it does not take much to wash it out and these closures cost the South Australian economy millions of dollars in lost revenue and compound the already-long travel times on the track as well. So this is very much a productivity issue. Sealing the road will considerably reduce time spent travelling for our hardworking truckies. With maximum speeds on the track of only 35 kilometres an hour for road freight it takes over 14 hours to complete. This is a serious productivity issue.

A sealed Strzelecki Track should be travelled in under six hours, I think—is that right, member for Grey?

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