Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the appropriation bills and wish to take the opportunity to speak to a range of community priorities and concerns across my electorate of Mayo on which, naturally, as the member, I am seeking to work with government to address.

A south-eastern freeway project of great urgency to my community is the Verdun interchange. It has long been a source of exasperation to my community that it is a one-way interchange. The result is that commuter traffic, buses and freight transport are all funnelled into the main street of the historic Hahndorf community. It's one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mayo. I recall one constituent telling me about a pregnant woman parking in the main street and having her driver's side door ripped off by a truck as she opened it. That's simply because we have a one-way freeway interchange right next to it. Upgrading the Verdun interchange will allow traffic to enter the freeway when heading away from Adelaide and to leave the freeway when heading towards Adelaide, and it will significantly improve traffic flow. It would also allow easier access for tourists seeking to visit Hahndorf and the wider Adelaide Hills region. I've advocated for the upgrading of the Verdun interchange since obtaining office in 2016. Recently, at one of my 21 community forums in Mayo, residents raised the issue of the interchange again. They were so motivated, they instigated their own residents' petition, and I've been advised they've collected nearly 500 signatures to date. The Turnbull government honoured a 2018 by-election promise to fund a $1 million traffic study into the movements around Hahndorf and nearby Verdun. I would expect this study will soon be close to completion. However, the results are yet to be made public. The community will tell you that we do not need a study to tell us what needs to be done. We need it to be a two-way freeway interchange. I've been advised that the upgrade will cost an estimated $15 million. This will be money well spent, and I will continue to do all I can to lobby government to make sure this project is an infrastructure priority for Mayo.

There is also the Victor Harbor Road. Sadly, Mayo roads are over-represented in South Australia's road crash statistics. This week my community is grieving the news of two more single-vehicle fatalities: one at Normanville and one at the notorious Victor Harbor Road at Mount Jagged. I've long campaigned for the duplication of the Victor Harbor Road, and the federal government's last budget announcement of $73 million to complete the duplication of the South Road to McLaren Vale was welcomed. However, work on this road is really needed at the other end, and what has been promised won't start until 2022 and isn't expected to be finished until 2027. It also, as I said, doesn't address the real problem and that's the lack of overtaking lanes at the other end of Victor Harbor, a windy, incredibly busy highway. The South Australian government has promised to build an overtaking lane between Crows Nest Road intersection and the roundabout near the wildlife park, but we need to do more and we need to do this quickly. The Victor Harbor Goolwa region is one of the fastest growing urban areas in South Australia and on the Fleurieu, and it is the most visited day trip destination outside the metropolitan area. When I'm home, I drive down the Victor Harbor Road several times a week, and I know how dangerous it has become. RAA statistics show that 43 people were killed or seriously injured on a 48-kilometre stretch of Victor Harbor Road between 2012 and 2016, making it a high priority for the RAA. Victor Harbor Road is a high priority for me, and I will continue to advocate to all levels of government to make the Mount Compass to Victor Harbor section of the road safer. We need urgent funding for more overtaking lanes and, for as long as I'm in this place, I'll be working hard to deliver that.

The Murray research institute: the Murray River and its tributaries are the lifeblood of our communities between the Lower Lakes and the Coorong. From Langhorne Creek to Goolwa and every community in between, we rely on the environmental health of the Murray for our economic, environmental and social wellbeing. Yet, because we are at the bottom of the river, we are the most vulnerable communities, and climate change is putting added pressure upon a river system that is already under enormous strain from the upstream mismanagement of large corporate irrigators and their political servants. In recognition of our vulnerability, in the lead-up to the 2018 Mayo by-election I called upon the federal and South Australian governments to set up the South Australian Murray River research institute. The vision was, and is, for the establishment of an institute based in Goolwa, dedicated to research on how to make our part of the river more resilient to the ebbs and flows of upstream conditions, to find new solutions for the management of salinity, water, wetlands, ecosystems and nutrient levels, to provide real-time summaries on the ecological condition of the river and to monitor and report on the socio-economic benefits for stakeholders during ebb and flow events. A well-resourced South Australian Murray-Darling research institute would plug an important gap in scientific expertise, and I will continue to advocate for it to benefit our South Australian river communities.

Aside from ensuring that we have a research institute, we really do need a regional engagement officer in Goolwa. An urgent and complementary measure to the research institute will be for us to have a permanent presence on the Lower Lakes and in the Goolwa region, ideally in Goolwa. Having a regional engagement officer able to engage with the community would not only help to build trust in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan but would provide an important avenue for our communities to voice our concerns directly to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority about the ongoing management of the river. We desperately need to salvage a workable plan, and having direct community access to the MDBA will help us achieve that.

A very beautiful part of my electorate is Yankalilla. The Yankalilla District Council was one of the first councils in South Australia to ban single-use plastics earlier this year, and I was pleased to attend the ceremony that officially recognised our council of Yankalilla as a Refugee Welcome Zone. Yankalilla may be a small town on the Fleurieu coast but its size belies a strong, vibrant and inclusive community. Following the closure of the library at the local area school, much of the community-driven advocacy has taken place in a space known as 'the centre', but the centre is bursting at the seams, and Yankalilla council is eager to expand the community library to ensure that it's able to meet the needs of our growing community.

Relatively minor upgrades, like a change to the layout and refurbishment of tired facilities, will ensure that our library is able to ramp up their already successful programs and branch out into new additional programs too. Even modest technological upgrades will enable the library to further develop basic IT support services. Such an initiative would offer residents young and old the opportunity to learn new skills as they connect with the world in a safe and responsible manner. While these plans may have been temporarily deferred due to budgetary constraints, I am strongly committed to working with the District Council of Yankalilla to deliver a good outcome for the library.

Something that's very near and dear to my heart is the Amy Gillett Bikeway. For the past decade the Santos Tour Down Under has kicked off the international pro cycling calendar, and many of the stages wind through the beautiful scenery of my community of Mayo. Consequently, cycling is now a very popular recreational activity in Mayo. In fact, cycling has become such an attraction that, in 2010, the then state Labor government heeded the persistent lobbying of the Adelaide Hills rail trail group and the local council and built the first four-kilometre stage of the Amy Gillett Bikeway from Woodside to Oakbank.

Named in honour of elite cyclist Amy Gillett, who was tragically killed in 2005 during a training ride with the Australian women's cycling team, the bikeway follows the abandoned corridor of the old railway line to Mount Pleasant. I know Amy's mother, Mary Safe, and along with the work of the Amy Gillett Foundation to improve road safety and awareness of cyclists, Mary is very proud of the bikeway as a legacy to her daughter. Stage 1 was followed by the six-kilometre stage 2 to Charleston. Then, after considerable public pressure and much time, we eventually got the seven-kilometre stage 3 to Mount Torrens, which was opened in 2014.

Since then, the vision for completing the bikeway to Mount Pleasant via Birdwood has stalled. Thousands use the bikeway, and it is a huge tourism drawcard for my electorate. My community can see the enormous social and economic potential to finish this project. The state government has clearly indicated that it feels it has contributed their fair share, and other tiers of government now need to step in. The local Adelaide Hills Council has limited resources, but it is committed to the project. As am I. I've advocated for the Amy Gillett Bikeway again since obtaining office, and I will continue to lobby the federal government to contribute to what would be a very small, modest investment to an enormously worthwhile project.

Another bike trail that is particularly exciting in my community is the flat to vale trail. It is a high priority project in the McLaren Vale wine region. It's my pleasure to join in advocating for this much-needed project, alongside the flat to vale trail community group, the coast to vines bicycle user group, the McLaren Vale Grape, Wine & Tourism Association, and the Onkaparinga council. This proposed shared pathway between McLaren Vale and McLaren Flat would link the highly successful Coast to Vines Rail Trail in the heart of the McLaren Vale region, providing an off-road link between the townships and tourist destinations where currently there is none. The proposed pathway offers opportunities for the Santos Tour Down Under and would connect with other tourism and cycling trails, including the sports park link trail, the Coast Park Trail and even a future Onkaparinga River trail.

Surf lifesaving, I think, is important to many members in this place, and the Aldinga Bay Surf Life Saving Club is a great example of the community spirit that is alive and well in Mayo. The club suffered a devastating loss after the demolition of their clubrooms due to severe storm damage last year. The irrepressible club volunteers have been out on patrol and training for over a year now, where they were based out of sheds and shipping containers until the recent completion of their operation centre. Yet, this setback has not and will not slow them down. The club has a vision on how they can serve their community and plan to extend their patrolling commitments by having satellite patrols at other locations in our community, including nearby Port Willunga.

At the same time, they continue to focus on their budding lifesavers, the Nippers, who, with the correct training skills, will be patrolling the beach of Aldinga and perform one of the estimated 12,500 rescues that are done each year at beaches across Australia. I look forward to working with the club over the next few months to ensure that the volunteers have the equipment they need to serve our community in the upcoming summer.

One of the greatest concerns in my community is bushfire risk. Mayo has some of the highest bushfire risk zones in the nation, and yet many across our region also have very poor telecommunications and internet. Mayo has 130 identified mobile black spots but has only managed to secure five funding sites under the Mobile Black Spot Program, many of which were announced prior to me entering as the member. One of the sites is the Montague/Cherryville, and it has been abandoned. I have advocated for the money for this site to stay in Mayo and, after discussions with the Minister for Regional Services, Decentralisation and Local Government, I understand there is a good chance that will be negotiated. This is great news, because our list of black spots remains very long.

One area that has slipped through the gaps is Cherry Gardens in the Mount Lofty Ranges. Steep terrain and tall trees mean the area has a great deal of difficulty with mobile phone reception and can only access satellite NBN. A number of retail service providers are now starting to disconnect their ADSL services. My office has received numerous complaints about poor telecommunications in Cherry Gardens, and these complaints were recently aired at a well-attended community meeting. After discussions with the industry, I have advised an efficient cost effective solution is for us to install 4G infrastructure on the NBN tower recently built at the Blackwood golf course, and I have had positive discussions with the state Liberal member for Davenport, Steve Murray, about the South Australian government potentially also supporting a regional digital connectivity project for Cherry Gardens. I think that's what the community wants to see: all levels of government working together.

I'll continue to advocate and use what I can—my powers of persuasion in this place. However, we do need the telecommunications industry to also get on board. There are many black spots in Mayo, and I will continue to advocate very strongly for all of them. We need to have safe connectivity right across our community. Thank you.

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