Dear Mr Murphy

Thank you for your letter dated 22 November 2010 about a petition regarding the repair and reopening of East Front Road, Younghusband, South Australia.

East Front Road is a local road for funding purposes and is the primary responsibility of the Mid Murray Council. The Australian Government, for its part, has committed

$2.7 billion for land transport infrastructure in South Australia over the period 2008-09 to 2013-14.

The Government provides a significant level of direct financial support to local governments to assist them to upgrade and maintain their local roads through programs such as Roads to Recovery and the Financial Assistance Grants.

Over the period 2009-10 to 2013-14, the Mid Murray Council has been allocated $2.35 million under Roads to Recovery. The choice of projects to be funded under the program, their management, scope and timing are at the discretion of the local council to ensure that they reflect local priorities. This could include the repair and reopening of East Front Road. In addition, $3.43 million has been allocated to Council as a Financial Assistance Grant for roads and general purpose expenditure in 2010-11.

from the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Mr Albanese