Privatisation and outsourcing are to blame for grass “higher than the white posts” along our region’s roadsides, according to SA Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis.
The hazardous vegetation was raised in State Parliament this month by the Member for MacKillop, Nick McBride.
“Can the (Transport) Minister inform the House how the State roadside spraying and slashing works?” he asked.
“As we approach the dry, bushfire and tourism season, I note the roadside grass is higher than the white posts on the Limestone Coast.”
But Mr Koutsantonis handballed the blame back to the previous Marshall Liberal Government which lost office almost three years ago on March 19, 2022.
“That’s part of the outsourced road maintenance contract that the Member for MacKillop’s former friends were very kind to outsource to a company, thinking they would make huge savings, when they did not,” Mr Koutsantonis said.
“In the usual financial mismanagement of the road maintenance budget that our friends opposite encountered, they have outsourced our road maintenance contracts, which includes vegetation clearance on the verges.”
Opposition leader Vincent Tazia interjected and asked about buses, but Mr Koutsantonis said buses were “a separate contract” and that there was a “difference in contracting styles”.
“I am very concerned also about the level of trimming going on for bushfire risk throughout our regional roads, and that is something of major concern for our road maintenance contracts,” Mr Koutsantonis told State Parliament.
“As I have said previously, I am very unhappy with the contract the former Government signed on our road maintenance, locking us in for a long period of time, hoping to bank in those savings.
“Of course, it’s cost us more and more because of the mismanagement and maladministration of the outsourcing of those contracts.
“I of course am doing everything I can to make sure that we can actually manage those verges.”
Mr Koutsantonis said he was glad Mr McBride was paying keen attention as he drove through his constituency.
“I have to say it’s also reassuring to know that there (are) at least one or two or three regional MPs joining us on the crossbench who actually care about what’s going on in regional SA,” he said.
“I will do my very best to get a detailed answer for the member. He has a lot of concerns he has raised with me about road maintenance.
“Obviously, it’s the quality of the repairs being done to the pavement. It is of course the cleanliness of our road verge.
“In the Limestone Coast, which is a very important tourist destination for SA, making sure that the verges are not only fire safe but also pleasing to look at is very important.”
Mr Koutsantonis said he was concerned “that we are not getting on top of this because of the handcuffs put on us by the previous Government through the contracts that they have signed with us”.
“But of course that is a consequence of privatisation and outsourcing.
“We see that whether it’s through Marino Railway Station or whether it’s through our road maintenance programs throughout SA.
“These programs, in the end, do not save us money; they end up costing us more.”
The [Naracoorte] News is attempting to contact the contractors for a right of reply to the claims in parliament by Mr Koutsantonis.
This article appeared in the Naracoorte News.
