Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I had the great pleasure on the weekend, on Sunday, of hosting the Prime Minister in my electorate. He was there to announce the final stage of the long-awaited North-South Corridor infrastructure project. The final stage of this long-awaited seamless North-South Corridor has reached a major milestone, and the Prime Minister was there yesterday with the Premier to announce it in my electorate. The milestone is that there's a preferred alliance partner being selected for the nation-shaping project. The project will be completed by deadline, but it's likely South Australians will be able to enjoy the full benefits of the Torrens to Darlington project even sooner than expected, with three tunnel-boring machines to be operated at the same time, instead of the expected two, which will bring forward the work.

Once finished, the Torrens to Darlington project will allow motorists to avoid 21 existing sets of traffic lights between the River Torrens and Darlington and will complete the nonstop 78-kilometre North-South Corridor between Gawler and Old Noarlunga. The middle part, which is in my electorate and parts of Boothby, is where the tunnels will be going. I'm very pleased about this announcement because, following the exhaustive procurement processes which commenced back in January, the consortium comprising John Holland, Bouygues Construction, Arcadis Australia, Jacobs and Ventia has been selected as the preferred alliance partner to deliver SA's biggest ever infrastructure project. The successful consortium has confirmed it can deliver the Torrens to Darlington project on budget, delivering significant travel, economic and community benefits for South Australia.

I've been campaigning on this project since 2013. I recall clearly the now Prime Minister, who was then the infrastructure minister, coming out to my electorate and turning the first sod on this project. It was a great pleasure to have him there yesterday to announce that the last bit of this project is being completed. Part of the project was also ensuring that we protected and secured some of the heritage listed buildings along that strip in my electorate. Without the tunnels they would have had to knock down the Thebby Theatre, an iconic heritage listed building that has had every rock band and Australian musician go through it, including Midnight Oil and many, many others, and also the Queen of Angels Catholic church. Both of these buildings were built at the turn of the century and are magnificent buildings. It's great that they and many other buildings in the area that have some significance and are old—some heritage, some not—will be saved.

That's why I was delighted yesterday to join the Prime Minister; Premier Malinauskas; South Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Tom Koutsantonis; my colleague the member for Boothby; Nadia Clancy MP, state member for Elder; and Jayne Stinson MP, state member for Badcoe. Credit must also be given to Minister King, who has worked tirelessly. Minister King, our infrastructure minister, works tirelessly on infrastructure and many projects around the country. I've got to say that I've made many calls to her office to get information on behalf of constituents, and they were always there with the information. I know that she's worked tirelessly and puts effort into improving our nation's infrastructure, transport and regional development.

The project not only will revolutionise the way locals move around our region but will unlock new transport opportunities for tourism, for the airport and for people who visit the area. It will take off approximately 40 minutes of travel time for commuters, which is a big difference if you add that up. If you're doing it every day, there are a few hours in that. So it gives you time at home with your family. The project will also provide approximately 5,500 jobs to South Australia during the main construction, with 90 per cent of labour hours to be undertaken by South Australians. I'm incredibly proud to have been part of this transformational project that will help South Australians get home quicker and safer. It was great to have the Prime Minister and the Premier in the electorate yesterday to deliver for South Australians, once again working in partnership. This project will be a fifty-fifty partnership of approximately $15.7 billion.