Mt Barker: Briggs has the last laugh
During the state election campaign, then transport minister Tom Koutsantonis boasted he’d extracted a top deal from Canberra for the construction of a second freeway interchange at Mt Barker.
He said his deal, negotiated with federal infrastructure minister Warren Truss, would deliver a Rolls Royce interchange, plus a substantial upgrade of the existing interchange, for a total cost of $34.9 million.
This plan, he argued, was much better than the State Liberals’ $27 million plan, which it had announced the day before with junior infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs, whose electorate includes Mt Barker.
It was a nice piece of political interference from Koutsantonis – and today, it has been proved to be a load of hot air.
Briggs and new state Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan have been sharing the love about a mutually agreed freeway upgrade which will cost – surprise, surprise – $27 million.
Briggs insisted at the time that Koutsantonis had his wires crossed and the project would be delivered for $27 million – and not a cent more.
Koutsantonis scoffed – after all, he had the paperwork from Truss which showed he was right. He even called the media to Mt Barker where he fulminated about how his deal was best for the state.
Today, Briggs had the last laugh, announcing a deal for exactly the amount that the Liberals’ had promised.
However, South-Eastern Freeway commuters who won’t benefit from the new interchange – and there are lots of them – should not be laughing.
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About $8 million in funding for an Advanced Traffic Management System for the freeway has been whisked away to another project. The management system was meant to be a safety measure – it would have allowed better management of traffic in the case of accidents, and would have included shoulder sealing works.
Today, we learn that money has been negotiated away from freeway upgrades to help fund the Darlington upgrade of South Road.
The election campaign argy bargy began after Liberal leader Steven Marshall announced in February a commitment to build a second freeway interchange.
Their deal included $16 million previously promised by Briggs, $7.9 million from the State Government and $3 million from the local council.
However, apparently unknown to the state Liberals, the week before Truss had agreed to a proposal from the State Government to fund not only the new interchange but a significant upgrade to the existing interchange at Adelaide Road.
Truss wrote to Koutsantonis on 12 February which, on the face of it, appears to agree to a state request to redirect $8 million previously devoted to an ATMS for the freeway and commit those funds to a bigger and better interchange project – bringing the total project cost to $34.9 million.
However, that interpretation was strongly contested by Briggs who says the total federal funding commitment to the project will be $16 million – and not a cent more.
Briggs told InDaily at the time that the Truss letter was being misunderstood by Koutsantonis.
The letter, seen by InDaily, notes the Federal Government’s reaffirmed election commitment to contribute $16 million towards the interchange.
It then says: “I am satisfied that the proposed project will meet the objectives of the Infrastructure Investment Programme and agree to the reallocation of $8 million Australian Government funding previously committed from the Advanced Traffic Management System project to the Bald Hills Road interchange and to upgrade the Adelaide Road Interchange”.
But Briggs says this isn’t additional money – and that Truss was simply agreeing for the ATMS allocation to be used as part of the $16 million.
When asked about the Adelaide Road upgrade, Briggs said he wasn’t sure how that got into the letter.
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“I agree that line is confusing,” he said.
“We don’t believe we should spend more than $16 million on the Bald Hills Road project.”
Koutsantonis said he was astounded at this interpretation.
“There’s no confusion – the Deputy Prime Minister (Truss) and I have a deal,” he said.
He said the situation showed that Labor could get a better deal out of Canberra than the Liberals.
“Canberra understands an argument based on good science and good outcomes – it’s not about playing nice,” he said.
When he wipes away the egg, Koutsantonis might consider another factor – and that is that the person who writes the cheques usually has the last laugh.
Briggs has also shown himself to be capable of some fancy footwork. In the end, the ATMS money isn’t being spent in the Hills at all – it’s been allocated to South Road, a fact confirmed to InDaily by Mullighan’s office today.
As for new boy Mullighan, he’s totally on board with the new deal.
“These important works are going to make a noticeable improvement in safety and travel times for commuters as well as visitors and tourists travelling through the area,” he said.
In response to our questions, he added: “Since the election, the State Government has secured $448 million in Commonwealth funding for the Torrens To Torrens upgrade; $496 million for the Darlington upgrade, and $16 million for the Bald Hills project.
“Post the state and federal elections, the Federal Government confirmed $8 million in funding that was allocated for the ATMS has been redirected to the Darlington project.
“The State Government looks forward to getting on and delivering the Darlington, Torrens to Torrens and Mt Barker projects, all of which will benefit South Australian motorists, businesses and families.”
All of which proves once more that what’s said in the heat of an election campaign is often a load of nonsense.
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