Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barker for his question. As well as this budget being about guaranteeing essential services, putting downward pressure on cost of living prices and the government living within its means, it is also a budget for jobs—better-paying jobs at that—as the Treasurer has outlined.

A state like South Australia is a terrific case in point. I had the opportunity earlier in question time to mention some of the infrastructure investments that this government is making in this budget, like the proton therapy facility at SAHMRI 2 on North Terrace and like the solar thermal power plant at Port Augusta which, for the member for Wakefield, is actually in this budget.

There is more than that. I would like to congratulate the member for Barker, the member for Grey and the member for Boothby. Because of their work, South Australia has had restored $40 million in supplementary local roads funding, which we have been fighting for since the 2014 budget. That is a big win for South Australia and particularly regional South Australia, delivered by our members of parliament.

We have got the $100 million for advanced manufacturing for Victoria and South Australia, which builds on the last advanced manufacturing package of a couple of years ago to keep that transition from the automotive industry to other industries and export markets that has been going so successfully. There is also the feasibility study, of course, for pumped hydro at Cultana, creating potentially 200 megawatts of power. There is also the feasibility study for a gas pipeline linking the Northern Territory and South Australia to open up the enormous opportunities in the Cooper Basin—

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