by DOC » Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:20 pm
Premier Steven Marshall abandons his GlobeLink freight plan after the business case doesn’t stack up
It was one of Steven Marshall’s signature policies: An overhaul of SA’s freight network, including a second major airport, that the Premier said “needs to be delivered”. Now it’s been dumped.
Daniel Wills, State Political Editor, The Advertiser
Plans for a second major SA airport, part of a freight transport vision that Premier Steven Marshall said “needs to be delivered”, have been dumped after a report found the business case didn’t fly.
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll on Monday said the State Government had “fulfilled its election commitment” to fund a business case into the GlobeLink plan announced in 2017.
It has concluded that neither the airport, planned freeway connection or freight rail upgrade would deliver a benefit that justified the immense costs involved.
The report finds that current air freight in SA is only around 10 per cent of the amount needed to make GlobeLink viable.
As opposition leader, Mr Marshall committed $20 million to a business case, of which the State Government says only $2.4 million was ultimately spent.
He said at the time: “This is an ambitious project, but one that definitely needs to be delivered”.
“The Liberal Party will deliver this project,” he pledged. “It needs to be delivered. It won’t be delivered in five minutes, but the work needs to be done now so that we’re ready for it to take place.”
The freight industry quickly expressed serious reservations about the plan.
Mr Knoll said several new road connections examined in the report would be considered by the Government in the longer term, but finishing South Rd was the first priority.
A decision on whether tunnels will feature in the final 10km fix is expected mid-year.
“The State Government has fulfilled its election promise to undertake a business case to investigate the viability of GlobeLink, and is being open and transparent,” Mr Knoll said.
“The State Government ... will not be progressing with the original GlobeLink proposal.
“The Government is clearly disappointed with the results of the business case.”
The report indicates the project would cost about $7 billion.
State debt is already headed to a record $24 billion, in part due to a $12 billion infrastructure spend in the next four years.
Fixing South Rd will cost more than $5.4 billion, which is currently unbudgeted. Nor is $1 billion or more for a new Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Mr Knoll said aspects of the GlobeLink report to be considered included an upgrade to Cross Rd, and new freight routes that could bypass the South Eastern Freeway.
The report finds that fears an existing freight rail link would hit capacity in the 2030s, a major reason for launching the business case, are no longer valid as trucks are taking more goods.
