Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Of course it's on the public interest immunity claim on the basis of the relationship between the South Australian government and the Australian government. What about the relationship with the people of South Australia? What about the residents of Hahndorf? What about the motorists that use Hahndorf? What about the visitors to Hahndorf? Of course I want to speak on this matter.

Every day, the more than 3,000 residents of the Adelaide Hills town of Hahndorf are grappling with 11,000 vehicles that use their main street. There are almost 500 heavy vehicles among the congested traffic, frequently grinding the street to a crawl. We're talking logging trucks and livestock trucks. We're not talking about the little ones. We're talking about semitrailers in a congested main street full of pedestrians and tourists. I was there about two weeks ago with Senator Ruston, and I was stunned, watching the trees in the tree lined street being smashed by these trucks driving past, trying to manoeuvre their way amongst the traffic, the pedestrians and the public transport—the buses—parked on the sides of the road. I was sitting at a cafe on the side of the road and I was horrified, waiting to hear a bang. The poor residents, visitors and truck drivers must feel that every time they turn into that stretch of road.

Around 36,700 vehicles use the Mount Barker interchange on the South Eastern Freeway each day. That's not a small number. The statistics clearly point to ever-increasing traffic congestion and safety concerns, and show in fact that there have been about 45 accidents in the past five years.

What also should not be missed is how vital this town of Hahdorf is to the South Australian economy, with an estimated one million visitors each year. This economic tourism injection adds to the congestion and safety concerns, yet the solution has been scrapped. The $250 million Hahndorf Township Improvements and Access Upgrade Project announced by the Morrison government and the South Australian government in 2020—on an 80-20 funding basis—is now not going ahead. We have no real explanation for that.

In a hearing of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee on 28 October last year I asked what was happening with the project. I was told, 'The project will be proceeding as always planned'—yes, 'as always planned'—and that the federal government was awaiting a final report from the South Australian government. Yet on 27 September last year the South Australia government announced that they had scrapped the project. Well, that does not add up; nor does the response we were given just a few minutes ago. Obviously, the federal department's answer was wrong. It had already been axed. Labor's left and right hands don't know what's going on.

The Hahndorf community action group, which is large and very active, is stunned. It is worth noting that Hahndorf is not within a federal or state Labor electorate. Could it be that Labor, both federal and state, don't have the needs of Adelaide Hills residents as a priority? There doesn't seem to be any transparent or valid reason for the project to be axed, certainly not a transparent or valid reason that any of those residents, drivers, locals or tourists would accept as reasonable. A petition to reinstate the bypass project has more than 1,700 signatures, and it's growing.

We know this is bad news for Hahndorf and for all Adelaide Hills residents, as the interchange upgrade would have reduced congestion, improved safety for road users and improved connectivity between the freeway and Mount Barker and other Adelaide Hills towns. This would have helped thousands of motorists who travel to and from the CBD every day. The congestion is still there and the road accidents will continue.

Currently, even the website of the SA Department for Infrastructure and Transport clearly admits the problem. It says that without new infrastructure—it's still up there on its website—and upgrades in and around Hahndorf it's likely traffic and freight will continue to increase and traffic collisions are likely to increase. It says:

When you go up to the end of Hahndorf, even on a weekday, it sometimes takes maybe 15 or 20 minutes. You're down to about five to 10 kilometres an hour getting through that stretch.

Do you know what? The other day I sat in my car on South Road, which is a major arterial road in South Australia. The project to help ease the congestion there, in the seat of Boothby, has been delayed again. The price of that build has gone up. It's a similar story. We don't care that people sit in traffic ambling along at 10 kays an hour for kilometres. Who cares about people getting to work? Who cares about people who are running a business getting from one point to another within a reasonable time frame? That's money lost to them. That's what happens when you don't focus on infrastructure improvements.

Hahndorf residents will now get an upgrade of the main street. The congestion will remain, the risks will remain, and I say that's simply not good enough, and nor was the explanation for not providing the answers.

Question agreed to.

(Quorum formed)