Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I attended the opening of the original and rejuvenated Joy Baluch AM Bridge in Port Augusta. The previous government commissioned the work, through the South Australian government, and there are now two major bridges over this crossroads of Australia. It was a great celebration with the town, and I thank the state minister, Geoff Brock, and the mayor, Linley Shine, for their kind words in relation to my role in helping to secure $160 million for the $200 million project from the federal government. In January, I attended the opening of the Port Wakefield Overpass and the dual lanes project through the community of Port Wakefield, and once again it was a celebration. That was a $90 million contribution from the federal government. We're coming up to Easter, and those motorists heading to Yorke Peninsula will appreciate the fact that we no longer have the traffic jams. They are really looking forward to that.

The previous government put a record investment into the electorate of Grey when it comes to roads—well over $1 billion across the length and breadth of my electorate. I will just cover off on some of those projects. There was $250 million for the two projects that I've already mentioned; $100 million for upgrading the Eyre Highway; $50 million for the Barrier Highway; $84 million for the Horrocks Highway, and that work will be complete within weeks; $100 million for the sealing of the Strzelecki Track, which leads from Lyndhurst to Innamincka, close to the Queensland border; $5 million for the Adventure Way, to go the rest of the way from Innamincka to the Queensland border; $113 million for the main road in the APY Lands; $130 million for the upgrade of the Augusta Highway, apart from the duplication, which I will come to in a moment; $114 million for safety upgrades; $8.8 million for the Dublin saleyards turn-off; and $208 million for the Port Wakefield to Lochiel section of the Augusta Highway, for duplication. That's a stretch of over 31 kilometres over the South Hummocks, and most of that work is nearing completion. All of these amounts have been topped up by 20 per cent from the state government. It's an amazing effort and something I'm very proud of—the previous government and my role in bringing that funding to the electorate of Gray.

What I want to know is: what's next? We have this road, the Augusta Highway, carrying increasing loads of traffic. The freight task is increasing all the time. We have new developments in the north of South Australia. We will probably have BHP's Oak Dam project coming in within the next few years. OZ Minerals is still ramping up at Carrapateena. There is a fertiliser project at Leigh Creek which I'm very hopeful will be coming along. There's more iron ore coming down the road. They will all use the Augusta Highway. In the previous government, we allocated $8 million to assess and develop the plan for the next stage of the Augusta Highway duplication. That's the section between Crystal Brook and Port Pirie, which carries the heaviest loads.

I looked at Labor's October budget, and it commits $400 million in South Australia for the freight highway upgrade program. As far as I can see, this money is designated for the Stuart, Dukes and Augusta highways. I was quite pleased with that figure when I saw it. I thought, 'Well, if we can get a third of that, perhaps we'll be able to get on, with $130 million or so, with doing the section between Crystal Brook and Port Pirie and keep the ball rolling.' But then I read in the fine print that that's over 10 years. Four hundred million over 10 years wouldn't pay for the white posts. I'm really concerned now, having done so much work to get the South Australian roads into a condition where we can actually handle the expansion of the industries happening in the north of the electorate of Gray—these industries that will underwrite the prosperity of South Australia—that the government is pulling away from that ongoing commitment. This government is big on talking about its commitment to the infrastructure of Australia. From that budget line, I can't see where that is coming to roads in Grey, at least. We're heading into another budget. The government will be clipping the lines at the moment and getting the numbers right. But I'm urging them to invest heavily in continuing this upgrade of the South Australian road network.