LOUISE MILLER FROST MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BOOTHBY: Well, hi everyone. I'm Louise Miller Frost. I'm the Federal Member for Boothby. I am really excited to be here with the Federal Minister Catherine King, State Minister Emily Bourke, and my really good friend, local State Member for Badcoe, Jayne Stinson. We have been waiting for this day for so long. This is one of those projects that in Adelaide we've talked about for years and years and years and years. And now finally, we can actually see things happening. There are massive cranes all the way along. We've unfortunately got roadworks, which is slowing down the traffic, but nonetheless, we can actually see that the north south corridor is happening, and this is part of a really strategic effort to manage southern suburbs traffic. So a couple of weekends ago, Jayne and Emily and I were down with Amanda Rishworth, and we opened the on-off ramps for Majors Road, which is about taking southern commuter traffic off some of my suburban roads and Jayne's suburban roads and putting them into the expressway so that they've got a fast commute. Now we have this and we have the tram overpasses. So we have the tram overpass bridge being moved into place at South Road just a week ago. This is a really exciting project, and I'm absolutely thrilled to have my lovely friend, the Minister. I'll pass over to you.

CATHERINE KING MP, FEDERAL MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT:  Thanks Louise, it's terrific to be here. And as well also, can I just say to Emily, congratulations on getting the portfolio. This is our first media conference together. It's terrific. It is such a fabulous portfolio. We get to do incredible things, building the future of infrastructure here in the state of South Australia. So I'm really delighted. And also, obviously the fantastic Louise Miller Frost, one of my friends and colleagues, and Jayne Stinson as well. It's lovely to be here as well. Well, it's a little while since I've been back here, but oh my goodness, what a huge amount of activity is underway on the Torrens to Darlington. We've seen huge earthworks being done. I've been on the south end of the site, but can just see this project is well underway, and this is the next milestone. It's a shame we couldn't get to the port because of the weather today, but the fact that now the first tunnel boring machine has arrived here in South Australia, overnight on Saturday, you'll see the centerpiece of the cutterhead. The cutterhead will be making its way down the road. Big engineering project in itself, just to get that on site, and the tunnel boring machines will start to be assembled as of the weekend, they'll take about six months to put together. But really, this is a project that is well and truly underway, a significant investment by both governments of over a $15 billion project, which will really change the way, taking out over 20 sets of traffic lights, moving heavy vehicles onto, you know, off suburban streets, being able to actually move traffic more effectively. And this really has been a bottleneck. I want to thank the community. This is we understand, with projects like this, there is always disruption, and that, you know, you can see that outside, but this will be worth it. It will be absolutely worth it to really get that travel time down, but improve the traffic flow on that north south corridor. This comes on top of a whole range of investments. As Louise said, whether it was from Majors Road, which has just been opened, I remember standing in the field with Premier Malinauskas and now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, announcing that investment back before the 2022 election, I think, and being able to do that and see that open. The level crossings that are being removed. And of course, there's more to come as we put extra money in our budget. Can I just say thank you to South Australian Government, but also the workforce here on this project, really, it is going at a cracking pace. We're delighted to see the progress of the work and the investment that we're putting in, and we look forward to working in continuation with the South Australian Government on what is an incredibly important project and will improve commuting times for everybody and really make it a much safer travel for everybody in the community. I'm going to hand over to Emily, and then we'll take some questions.

EMILY BOURKE MP, SA MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT: Thank you Catherine, and thank you for being a wealth of knowledge at the other end of the phone as well. And I really have appreciated all your feedback that we've been able to work through so far. To Louise and Jayne. You know, I feel like every time I come in to your community, I say we're building the biggest this or moving the biggest bridge, or, you know, the biggest piece of infrastructure is arriving, and that's what we're here to talk about today. It is that biggest piece of infrastructure our state has ever seen, and it is starting to arrive. Our TBMs will be 100 meters in length when they are built. But the really significant piece of that TBM has arrived, and that is that center piece that Catherine spoke about. It will be 175 tonnes and over nine meters wide, just as a standalone piece, as we've heard already. It's going to be quite tricky to get that and navigate it down to its resting place at Clovelly Park, and that's why we'll have to take out traffic lights just to be able to move that large piece of equipment along South Road to Clovelly Park. And this really will be history in motion, moving very, very slowly down South Road at about 5k an hour to be able to get to that launch box that we know is so necessary to build this piece of infrastructure that we're having in South Australia. Like I said before, we need the largest piece of infrastructure we've ever had to build the largest roadworks we've ever had to undertake in South Australia, and these projects can only be achieved when you work in partnership. And that’s exactly what we have done. Between state and federal government, we've been to work together to achieve this incredible outcome. This has been spoken about for so long, for too long, and finally, because of this partnership, we can get on and finish it. This 10.5 kilometres will be able to be completed because of this $15 billion investment. So I really do encourage people, it will be a slow motion. You can jump on out, put on your pyjamas, probably grab a blanket or two and a coffee, and go on down after about 10pm and start watching this go down South Road. And you know, you'll be able to probably walk as fast as it's traveling, but you'll be able to be a part of this history making moment. And this will be the first of many. We know that there's three TBMs that will be required, and we're doing something quite unique in South Australia, because we like to do things a little bit different. We will be having all three TBMs working at the same time, so the south tunnel and the north tunnel will be dark at the same time, meaning we can get on cracking with this project and make sure that we can get it done.

JOURNALIST: You briefly mentioned that traffic lights will have to be removed. Can you take me through the scale of the operation?

EMILY BOURKE: Yeah, this is, this is really, really big. And it's not just big at a South Australian level. When you look around the country, this is a big project for Australia. So when we, when we drive down South Road at the moment, and you see the big drills and the cranes, and usually we only see cranes in the CBD, but in South Australia at the moment you're seeing those cranes everywhere, particularly in this community, and that's something we should all really be proud of, because it means we're building, it means we're creating jobs, but it means we're also having to really creative logistics. So to be able to get this piece of infrastructure from the port, we'll have to take out about nine sets of traffic lights, because they are – it is so wide, it's nine meters wide, 175 tonnes. So we need to move that around and be a little bit agile and to get it to its resting place at Clovelly Park. 

JOURNALIST: Once it's in, once it is built with a boring machine. Do you have any stats on how slow they are and how fast they are too?

EMILY BOURKE: Yeah. So it's only moving about 10 meters every day. So it's going to take time. When you when you see the images out there, in a moment, the model. So this is 100 meters long. It's like a little city underground. There'll be 20 people working on it, 24/7 (not the same 20). So people will be taking shifts, and, you know, working on this 24/7 because it won't stop. It will just keep going and be moving ever so slowly, because, you know, we have to get it right, and we have to do it in a safe way.

JOURNALIST: What kind of road closures can people around this area expect on Saturday?

EMILY BOURKE: Yeah, so it's going to be quite late at night, so probably after 10pm and not arriving until the really early hours in the morning. And we're doing it at that time of night because we know it's quieter. They’ll be police escort, so that they're getting guided along, and they can be guiding the traffic as well at the same time. So it'll be really late at night, but something good to do, something to say you're a part of it. You saw this largest piece coming in, and if you do miss it this time, don't worry. There will be other opportunities very soon. 

JOURNALIST: Do you know how many hours it will take?

EMILY BOURKE: It will, it has to go about 28 kilometres in distance. So I'm not sure exactly how long it will take, because over there – so about five hours to travel that 28 kilometres.

JOURNALIST: We've seen a lot of congestion along South Road at the moment, while this is all happening. What's your message to drivers who are having to deal with this day in, day out until works are done in several years’ time? 

EMILY BOURKE: Yeah, we really do thank all of the local community and motorists for their patience. But just remember, this is a significant piece of infrastructure, just the T2D alone will save you up to 40 minutes every day in your travel. We're taking out 21 sets of traffic lights. This is going to bring us in line with every other mainland state. We will have a non-stop motorway. That means we are growing up as a state. We are getting on. We're doing what we need to do to make us a more productive state, a state that connects us and makes us safer.

JAYNE STINSON MP, STATE MEMBER FOR BADCOE: Oh, I might just add something to what Emily was just saying there, just in relation to local residents. It's my expertise. I have really noticed a vibe shift in our community over the last few weeks. Obviously, we've had to go through some of the pain with, you know, land acquisitions and disruption and so forth. But you know, seeing it all come together, seeing it take shape, has got people in my community really excited. So I think people are now looking up and soon looking down and seeing the action that's happening, and they're realising that the inconvenience is worth it, and is going to make a really big difference to our state. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, which states and territories responded to your letter asking them what they planned to do to keep drivers safe from sexual harassment and assault by driving instructors? 

CATHERINE KING: I think quite a few of them. I don't have that at hand, and I'll refer to previous transcripts about this issue. 

JOURNALIST: You don't know which ones?

CATHERINE KING: I do know some, but I don't know if all of them, because I haven't been in the office for a few, so I haven't been in the office for a few days. But certainly I know South Australia has responded. 

JOURNALIST: And can you tell us some other ones you're aware of?

CATHERINE KING: Certainly I think Victoria has as well, and I think Tasmania, but I'd have to go back and check.

JOURNALIST: You're just aware of those three at the moment?

CATHERINE KING: At the moment, yes. That was it?

JOURNALIST: Yes.

CATHERINE KING: Yeah. The other thing we didn't talk about with the tunnel boring machines is they are named – there is a naming protocol for tunnel boring machines, and they are named after women. It's a matter, as I'm told, of long-standing mining history. It's seen as a sign of good luck, particularly after Saint Barbara, who is the patron saint of mining from memory. So there'll be a competition, as I understand it, or a community consultation to name the tunnel boring machine. So another opportunity for the community to participate and ensure that they've actually got women's names on these and that's the protocol right the way across internationally, that they're named after women.

JOURNALIST: Back on driving instructors. Can you give me a sense of what those who have responded to your letter have said?

CATHERINE KING: No, not at this stage. No.

JOURNALIST: Why are you not willing to disclose that information?

CATHERINE KING MP: Not at this stage, because they are letters to me and I'm certainly satisfied with the responses that we're getting in. Thank you.