Published April 2025
Together, the South Australian Labor Government and the Albanese Labor Government are treating the South Australian community like ‘mugs’ rolling out a cruel hoax - announcing $525 million in funding for the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass without a single dollar committed by Malinauskas Government to make it happen.
Under questioning from the State Liberal Opposition, the State Labor Government confirmed:
We have already learned from detail buried in estimates documents that there is in fact no money within the next financial year for this project, and a paltry $88 million over the forward estimates, with the bulk of the funding not flowing until years later.
A week after the Federal Budget there is no official response from the State Labor Government about their contribution which is required to consider this project a real commitment, with answers needing to be dragged out of the State Government during question time.
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Ben Hood said South Australians are being treated with contempt by both State and Federal Labor - with Minister Tom Koutsantonis asleep at the wheel, having only found out about the federal commitment via Labor backbencher Louise Miller-Frost's social media.
The Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass is a critical project planned by the State and Federal Liberal Parties when in Government and designed to divert heavy vehicle traffic away from the South Eastern Freeway to the Sturt Highway, north of Adelaide, through interchange upgrades at Monarto and freight bypasses around the townships of Truro, Sedan and Cambrai.
“Let’s be clear, the paltry allocation the Albanese Labor Government has on the table doesn’t mean a thing without a State Labor Government commitment. South Australian Labor’s bypass is dead in the water,” Mr Hood said.
“It took a stunned Tom Koutsantonis almost 30 hours to even acknowledge a half-a-billion-dollar commitment astonishingly made by a Labor backbencher and even then, it had no detail on what they were actually proposing.”
Mr Hood said that while the $525 million Federal Labor announcement sounds impressive, without the State Government matching the 50 per cent investment expected by the Federal Government, the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass will remain a fantasy.
“If they only fund 20 per cent, what part of the plan is being scrapped?” Mr Hood said.
Mr Hood added that it was time for Minister Koutsantonis to be honest with South Australians and tell the state what his Government is prepared to invest.
Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety and Member for Barker, Tony Pasin MP, labelled the State Labor Government’s lack of support for the project an embarrassment.
“The fact that Anthony Albanese didn’t give the South Australian Premier a heads up that he needs half a billion dollars to deliver this critical infrastructure is astounding,” Mr Pasin said.
“Without this funding there will be no bypass. It’s bad enough that the Federal Budget has no money in it for this project next financial year and now, the South Australian community has no certainty at all.
“What we do know is that Labor happily axed this project to begin with. You cannot trust Labor with building the infrastructure South Australia needs.”
Tony Pasin Contact: Charlotte Edmunds 0402 343 753
Ben Hood Contact: Hayley McDonald 0408 100 373
