Transcript - media conference, Adelaide

LOUISE MILLER-FROST: Thank you. Well, thank you for coming down here this morning for this very exciting announcement. I’m Louise Miller-Frost, I’m the Federal Member for Boothby, and this is just certainly a very important announcement for my electorate. When I doorknock around here, this is the number one intersection I hear about - the number one issue I hear about. The traffic between this tram stop and this carriage section and the Anzac Highway intersection is a nightmare day and night. And we've got some unbelievable footage of the sort of risk people take when they're jammed up here for 10 minutes. So, we’ve been waved down for about 15 minutes every hour and that has an enormous impact on all of the locals, but also the commuter traffic coming through here. 

Now, along with my local state MP’s, Sarah Andrews and Jayne Stinson, we've been campaigning on this for some time; and I'm absolutely thrilled to be here today with the federal minister, Catherine King, and the state minister, Tom Koutsantonis, to announce that we are going to fix this intersection, have an overpass at the same time that we're doing the long awaited Marion Road and Cross Road Intersection. 

So, that means the tram closure will be one closure, not multiple closures. There will be buses around so that we'll be able to still have people coming and going during that period. But the important thing is that, finally after so many years, we will actually be having Marion Road, Cross Road and Morphett Road tram intersections fixed all at the same time. 

So, it's my absolute pleasure to hand over to the state minister, Tom Koutsantonis. Over to you. Jane, you’re here. I’m going to hand over to Jayne Stinson, who's just arrived. 

[Laughter]

JAYNE STINSON: Thank you. Hello, I'm Jayne Stinson. I'm the Member for Badcoe, which is over that way. And this is Quinn, who just comes to every press conference now. I'm absolutely thrilled that this is happening. You can see behind us the chaos that's caused every single morning. People will breathe a sigh of relief hearing about this news. There are people stuck in the traffic right now that will be hearing about this and just thinking, thank goodness they're finally making a change. 

I've been agitating about this for years. In fact, I agitated with the previous Liberal Government - they did nothing. I'm so glad that we've got Labor in charge of federal and at state level, and that means that we can get some real changes made in our community. Our community is still crying out for changes. 

We have a lot of additional housing being built in this area, and that's putting pressure on our roads. This is a solution to that. This is about addressing the needs of our local [indistinct]… community, our growing local community. So, if we're going to have that increased population in the inner areas, which we do need to have, then we need to provide the infrastructure for that, and this absolutely delivers on that. 

The main thing that my community has been calling for over the last few years is - we've been announcing quite a few other infrastructure upgrades - is for this to be done in concert with those other upgrades. So, we're going to see a terrific use of time. These ministers have listened to the community who've said: hey, we don't want to see our tram lines shut down for any longer than necessary, and the works are all going to be done at the same time. 

So, my community is absolutely thrilled and absolutely applaud the work of these ministers today. And I completely back everything Louise and Sarah have said and are doing in their community. Thank you very much. 

CATHERINE KING [MINISTER]: Thanks very much. I'm Catherine King, the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Well, you can see from Louise and Jayne, and Sarah who's not able to be with us this morning, just how excited they are about this decision. This work today, now being announced at Norfolk Road, but also alongside Marion Road and Cross Road as well, removing the level crossings will be game changing for, not just the people who use this road, but for people in the surrounding suburbs. I've just done the rat run, as it's called, through the back streets, suburban streets that are taking huge volumes of traffic as people try and avoid this intersection. You can see behind us now just the level of traffic that's occurring 16 minutes out of every hour, every single hour, when this crossing is closed and traffic is backing up. 

Can I just say what a pleasure it is to work with Tom Koutsantonis? The relationship between the Federal Government and the South Australian Government, when it comes to infrastructure, is an incredibly strong one. What it has meant is that we are able to have a long-term investment plan for South Australia; make sure that when projects are being asked for investment that they are ready to be delivered. 

Work on this project, as I understand it, is to start this year. Now, this has been decades where people have been complaining about this project, and it has taken the Albanese-Labor Government and the Malinauskas Labor Government here in South Australia, not just to talk about the problem but to actually do the hard work, do the planning, actually understand what the costs are and actually begin to start. 

Doing all three crossings as a part of the one project [indistinct] the disruption which we know inevitably occurs when you are doing a project like this - enables that to just be happening as we do all three crossings at once. And it really will change the way in which people are able to move around their suburbs and, really, give people back their streets here in this community. I'll hand over to Tom and then we'll take some questions. 

TOM KOUTSANTONIS [SA PREMIER]: Those bells you just heard will be a thing of the past soon. The four intersections that we are upgrading as part of this Labor-led [indistinct] million program which shows that South Australia has been delivering greater results. Over 1,000 jobs each year [indistinct] whether it be in Norfolk Road, Cross Road, Marion Road [indistinct]. Finally, we have a party, we’ve got a party that [indistinct] sensible content you can [indistinct]. I hope you can think about it, process it, understand our reasoning and then help us fund it and help us build it. 

And that's what happened here. And Prime Minister Albanese has been [indistinct] South Australia finally has [indistinct], they’ve supported us along [indistinct] this intersection. But we would expect [indistinct] behind me and we understand [indistinct]. And I've got to say, even the long term makes a lot of sense. But fixing this intersection for us while we're doing Cross Road, while we're doing Marion Road [indistinct] at once creates a lot of savings. 

And I want to thank, again, our successful consortium - CPB Contractors, Mike McDonald, Alec  [indistinct] years. They’ve been doing an exceptional job of making sure that we can future proof these intersections for long term and keep these roads longer. The work we're doing here is to not only to improve [indistinct] Road, it includes Anzac Highway, [indistinct] Avenue, of course, North Plympton. It's also going to improve traffic on Brighton Road as well. But these works here are thinking about long-term congestion busting intersections, and this is what we’re attempting to do. 

So, while South Australia's building, there’s going to be a little bit of inconvenience for people, we are going to have a tram line down for a while - people need to be understanding. We will have better bells and they'll be going soon. People will need to be understanding. We’ll have bus replacements in place and there will be some additional congestion while we're doing this work, but the long-term gain is worth it. 

Just imagine this intersection without bringing it down probably 16 minutes every hour. On Marion Road, those boom gates are down 20 minutes for every hour. So, we are dramatically changing the makeup of Marion Road and [indistinct] will improve the productivity of the south western suburbs. And we're taking into account cyclists, pedestrians. 

And importantly, across the road there at the Royal Racecourse there’s going to be a wonderful brand new development. This has become now a really transit-orientated development, where you’ll been having a lot of high density housing to try and cope with the housing crisis in South Australia with access to a very, very good tram stop at their doorstep - getting them into the city [indistinct] not they’re using our roads. So we’re decongesting, we're also de-carbonising [indistinct] it as well. 

So, thank you very much to Louise. Thank you very much to Jayne and Sarah and most importantly, to Catherine King who’s always got a sympathetic ear to South Australia. Always takes my calls, as frustrating as it can be but she's a great partner to have. Happy to take more questions.

JOURNALIST: How much is this going to slash commuter time [inaudible]…

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: Well, I mean, there are 25,000 vehicles that use this a day. We're seeing 16 minutes [inaudible]… Awesome.

JOURNALIST: Safety - how is this going to improve safety? [Inaudible]… stats, you know, how many accidents and injuries there has been at this intersection. How's this going to improve safety?

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: Well, I mean you've got basically two intersections within metres of each other. You've got the tram intersection, [inaudible]… you’ve got pedestrians [inaudible]… cyclists [indistinct] access across the intersection. There’s a very large school just down the road. There are a lot of students that are using the tram crossing to and from school. Makes it a lot safer for them. This is a long term commitment, overdue long term commitment. And this is what this government’s about. The Premier decided [inaudible]… He wants a long term commitment. That's why we're not building the new Women’s and Children's Hospital right next to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, because that site was hypothecated for an expansion [inaudible]… So it's all about long term commitments, [inaudible]… pedestrians, cyclists, school children, social activities, or housing. [Indistinct] it ticks every single box.

Importantly, this project has got a positive benefit-cost ratio, [indistinct] which means for every dollar we do spend, we're getting more than a dollar back in economic growth.

JOURNALIST: How many jobs is created [inaudible]…

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: This project alone, 370 over all four intersections. Over 1,100 jobs for each year in operation. We're talking about a lot of work, a lot of boots on the ground, a lot of South Australian labour [indistinct]. And what we've got are procurement plans in place to make sure that 90 per cent of [inaudible]… South Australians. So, in terms of fellowships and traineeships, and requirements [indistinct] as well. Indigenous long term unemployed can get trained, but more importantly, we’re seeing families [indistinct] work, long term work. I’ve already spoken about the north south [indistinct]... So this is a good piece of work, but it is going to force a little bit of congestion while we do. So- and if you remember this, we're doing this for the long term, which will mean congestion. It will mean some congestion across [inaudible]… it will mean some congestion on South Road, [inaudible]… 

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: Well, we’re coordinating with the South Australian Police to make sure that there are no [inaudible]… South Australia. We are very [inaudible]… Tony Burke is a long term [inaudible]… understand what has to happen. As we've always said, construction workers work in a very, very dangerous industry. They deserve to have a union that is focused on a professional level of representation to keep them safe, not criminalising their activity for their own pockets. So we are very, very focused and supportive of the Commonwealth government. We're making sure that in all of our contracts, there are clear clauses that do not allow preferential treatment to any subcontractor that might have links to organised crime or outlawed motorcycle gangs. We don't want to see any preferential treatment being put in place that would entrench any type of illegal behaviour. [Indistinct] commissioner [inaudible]… initiated that. If there are any findings of any corruption or any behaviour that is mysterious or in any way illegal, they’ll be prosecuted.

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] thousand people are about to use this road here [inaudible]… new housing and people moving into the area. [Inaudible]…

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: More importantly, the tram stop at the Morphettville Racecourse will accommodate for a lot of those [inaudible]… upgrading this intersection [inaudible]… you’re going to see a lot [inaudible]… So, what we want to do is give people easy access to public transport. And by having the tram stop right alongside [indistinct] development, it's going to be a transit [indistinct] development. So you're going to see a lot of those people using the tram as their public transport, as the main form of transport. So this is a decongested piece of work. It's not going to add to congestion, but what we are seeing is [indistinct]. Just seeing now, through this press conference alone, that intersection is now- in the last ten minutes, [inaudible]…

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: [Inaudible]… services to the [inaudible]… South Road [indistinct] via the city. We’re having to add some of our trams [inaudible]… to provide trams on the other network, but we’ll manage that. There will be bus replacement services in place. It will be inconvenient for some people because the [indistinct] stop is very, very popular, but we hope to have it open [indistinct] by December, this summer, and hopefully open by New Year’s Anniversary celebrations.

JOURNALIST: Is that 2024?

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: [Inaudible]…

JOURNALIST: When are you planning [inaudible]…

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: More work completed this year. The tram line should close by the end of this year or early next year to minimise those [inaudible]… by minimising impacting commuters to make sure that we minimise our impact. But ultimately we want to build this as cheaply as possible, as quickly as possible [inaudible]…

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]… When will the [inaudible]…

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: [Inaudible…] The previous government left us a public transport system with regional centres that's suboptimal. And I have to say, given that they always claim that they're for the regions, how could they leave so many people with such substandard services? I mean, you get all these Liberals pretending that they love the regions. They love them so much, but no bus services. They give them contracts for road maintenance that are substandard. Again, poor roads and poor outcomes and poor public transport. So what we have to do now as a Labor Government is go in there with new [indistinct] services, look at what's needed. We'll come back with a solution that we can [indistinct].

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

TOM KOUTSANTONIS: Hopefully by the end of the year. Questions for Catherine King?

JOURNALIST: Yeah, I will. [Inaudible]… hi, from Canberra. Will the government send any more [inaudible]…

CATHERINE KING: [Inaudible]… start by saying, we have zero tolerance for the sort of behaviour we have seen [inaudible]… taking the strongest possible [inaudible]… administration Now, that administration [inaudible]… construction [inaudible]… direct relationship [inaudible]… We want every single dollar that is sitting in construction going to [indistinct] projects [inaudible]… The [inaudible]… invested $1.5 billion in infrastructure to assist in bringing communities together. [Indistinct] that investment [inaudible]… it is now up for competitors- competitive opportunities as well. All of that work is underpinned, of course, by ensuring that there are rigorous contracting procedures in place to ensure that every single dollar of investment, of taxpayers’ money, into construction and infrastructure is going to good wages, good safe workplaces and making sure [indistinct] good infrastructure.

ENDS