James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

I rise to thank Senator Bridget McKenzie, who came to my electorate during the break to participate in a roundtable that I held with two of my local governments, the Norwood Payneham and St Peters Council and Burnside Council. The mayors and elected members of both those councils were invited to join us and talk with her about the important task of getting trucks off Portrush Road.

When we were in government, we went ahead with what we assumed the now government would honour, which was the Truro bypass project. It was a very important first step to getting heavy freight diverted around to the back of the Adelaide Hills so that it wouldn't come rumbling down the freeway at great risk to traffic and pedestrians and, frankly, great economic inefficiency compared to the alternative route.

We announced investments in the Truro bypass, but, regrettably, that project is now on hold under this 90-day review to reconsider whether that vital project will go ahead and be invested in. I will be fighting to secure funding for not only that—no matter what happens with this 90-day review decision—but also the Adelaide freight bypass corridor. That is a vital road safety and economic efficiency measure for my electorate and for the people of Adelaide. I hope the government does not remove funding for that project in this review process.

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