Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. Is the minister aware that the latest RAA travel time report shows the average speeds for the morning and afternoon peak periods along South Road between O'Halloran Hill in my electorate and the Adelaide CBD are at their lowest in a decade? How will the $500 million commitment by the government to upgrade the Darlington interchange assist with this traffic congestion?

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Boothby. He understands the seriousness of this issue in South Australia and the impact that this congestion is having on South Australia and Adelaide in particular. The member for Hindmarsh also knows. He is constantly lobbying to ensure that South Road is upgraded within a decade, as the infrastructure Prime Minister has committed to.

We are getting on with the job. I have been working with the South Australian government on getting a Darlington study underway. We are funding the Darlington study to ensure that the plan is in place to be able to follow through with our $500 million commitment. This is what this government will do. The Abbott government made a commitment at the election, and we will follow through with it. That is a novel prospect for some on the other side, but we will follow through. As the infrastructure Prime Minister committed to, we will upgrade the north-south corridor in a decade. We will get on with the Darlington project. We are working with the state government to do so but we will move on with the Torrens-to-Torrens project as well because it is an important project.

There have been some ill-informed claims made by some interested in this issue. What the Prime Minister said very clearly in South Australia last month was that we believe we need to give South Australia that productivity boost to bring the economy out of the doldrums, where the South Australian Labor government after 12 years had dumped it, in combination with six years of a terrible federal Labor government. As the Treasurer just said, the coalition will put in place an infrastructure agenda—which we will have much more to say about very soon—which will ensure that we build the roads of the 21st century. We will address the issues that the RAA has raised that the member for Boothby focused on. We will address the issues the member for Hindmarsh is focused on and we will ensure that Adelaide retains its title of the '20-minute city'.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.