Transport boss rules out T2D blowout
The head of SA’s transport and infrastructure department has assured a parliamentary inquiry the $15.4 billion Torrens to Darlington project will meet budget.
South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport chief executive Jon Whelan said he remains confident that Torrens to Darlington will stay within budget despite a recent Auditor-General’s report warning of a significant cost to taxpayers if the project blows out.
Whelan told State Parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee yesterday that war in the Middle East has had a “minimal impact” on cost pressures related to diesel and construction materials for the $15.4 billion project.
“We are confident that we can meet the project budget stated, even with the impacts and effects that have happened in the war in Iran. We remain confident this project stays on track and on budget,” he said, adding that he was also confident the project would be completed by 2031 despite just 175 metres of the North-South corridor having been bored so far.
It comes after an Auditor-General’s report from August into the Torrens to Darlington project found South Australian taxpayers could foot the bill for an additional $154 million if the project overruns its budget by just one per cent.
The report recommended that “governance reporting should be strengthened to support a clearer understanding of significant risk exposures and whether mitigation actions are effective”.
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During the hearing, Whelan also dismissed concerns of potential CFMEU involvement on the project, including a stop work similar to the controversial union halting construction on Melbourne’s multimillion West Gate Tunnel and other sites.
“The workforce has an entitlement to be represented by the union of their choice, and typically projects of this nature have members that are part of the CFMEU, but our EA agreement is with the AWU for this project,” he said.
According to the state government, the Torrens to Darlington project is the largest infrastructure project in South Australia’s history, with 78 kilometres of non-stop, traffic light-free motorway between Gawler and Old Noarlunga.
MotoGP construction
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Whelan also said the department had “no intention” of closing the O-Bahn for MotoGP construction works.
“We do know that the O-Bahn will be closed for the event; that is unavoidable. We are working with them closely, because at the moment the advice they are giving us is that they would need it one day prior to the event. Our full intention is to open the O-Bahn in between events,” he said.
Whelan said he would be holding a confidential meeting with the Adelaide City Council tonight, followed by meetings with other councils, to hear their concerns about MotoGP, with a summary of that consultation provided to the SA Motor Sport Board.
“We are in the process of having to develop a construction program and packages of how this could be done, and also work that in with community events like the Fringe, particularly the impacts of the Garden of Unearthly Delights and Gluttony. We need to minimise those,” he said.
“The park lands are well used for those events, and we are very vested in undertaking the construction works that will minimise any impacts to business, also to the flow of traffic and also to the community in general.”
Whelan said the department hoped to have asphalt down by May at the latest, which would then be followed by other works such as putting in gravel, run-off areas and planting trees.
“We are quite used to doing road resurfacing across our network. The majority of that is usually undertaken at nighttime to minimise any impacts to businesses, and we will work with the immediate community there, particularly around those other areas where East Terrace butts on, but the track is predominantly inside an area that is already track,” he said.
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