Have you ever driven the stretch between Naracoorte and Bordertown and feared the next bump might leave you with a blown tyre or bent rim?

If so, you’re not alone. Locals say the road has become notorious for sudden drop-offs, crumbling shoulders, and dangerous edges—some as deep as 15 centimetres—that have left motorists with costly repair bills and a lingering sense of frustration.

Member for MacKillop, Nick McBride, took the matter directly to the South Australian Parliament last month, revealing his office had been contacted by numerous constituents reporting damaged tyres and rims after slipping off the edge of the road.

Mr McBride asked the minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Tom Koutsantonis, to explain what works were being done to improve the condition of the road between Naracoorte and Bordertown.

“My office has been contacted by numerous constituents who have blown tyres and damaged rims after falling off this road. In some cases, a drop-off can be as much as 15 centimetres,” Mr McBride told the chamber.

In response, Mr Koutsantonis agreed the situation was “clearly unacceptable” and confirmed works were underway.

“I thank the member for raising this in the parliament so the parliament can know of the travails of his constituents,” the minister said.

“It is important that regional members ventilate these things in the parliament. I have a lot of correspondence from people in the South East about the state of the maintenance contract.

Mr Koutsantonis said the issues on the Naracoorte to Bordertown Road were “symptomatic of a wider problem” in regional South Australia, pointing to a ballooning $2 billion maintenance backlog inherited from the former government.

“The maintenance contract was outsourced by the previous government after the government had conducted that contract,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

But his remarks were repeatedly interrupted by opposition interjections—a point that clearly disturbed the minister, who shot back that regional communities were now paying the price for the previous government’s decision to privatise road maintenance in 2020.

“Here we go. It is amazing how it is all care and no responsibility once they are in opposition, despite having their fingerprints all over the actual cause of this.

“So, if we break a contract, we are creating sovereign risk; if we don’t break a contract, we don’t care.

“It is a great sort of a scam they’ve got over there. I am advised that the department has recently completed shoulder sealing for approximately 17 kilometres of Naracoorte Road from Meatworks Road to Stott Road.

“These works were jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian Labor governments under the Heavy Vehicle and Safety Productivity Program—that was $7.4 million.

“Shoulder grading on the remaining section of Naracoorte Road is continuing, with hazard warning signs to identify an edge drop.”

The minister said a 15-centimetre edge drop was considerable.

“It is anticipated that the works will be completed by the end of September.

“I have also been advised by the department—because the member wrote to me as well about this; he is quite diligent on these things—that it will continue to bid for funding through various available federal programs to complete the shoulder sealing of the remaining lengths of Naracoorte Road south of Stott Road to the Riddoch Highway.”

Mr Koutsantonis said the Commonwealth government was keen for the state to improve the resilience of these roads and was looking to assist.

“We will be progressing those asks of the Commonwealth government.

“Of course, the issues on the Naracoorte to Bordertown Road are symptomatic of a wider problem, one that is very prevalent in the electorate of MacKillop.

“Again, I go back to the privatisation of the road maintenance contract in 2020.

“It wasn’t just the privatisation of that contract, it was the scorched earth behind it: the sale of the depots and the sale of all the equipment, so if the contract was unsuccessful, we couldn’t restart the works ourselves.

“They made sure—they salted the earth after them. This is what they tried to do with the Adelaide 500 as well, you might remember, so they have form on this.

“So, when I get letters from the shadow minister and from Liberal members about road conditions in regional South Australia, I hope people in the regions realise through that four-year period the damage members opposite (opposition) did in contracting.”

The minister said the “vandalism by members opposite on this was ridiculous”.

He told parliament that in 2018, the backlog of road maintenance was $750 million.

“When we came to office, that had grown to $2 billion, and then they (the opposition) complain about why we haven’t fixed it.

“They let it blow out, they let it more than double, and then they complained to us why haven’t we fixed it in three?”

“I’ve got to say that I find that type of attitude appalling, which is probably why members opposite are in the situation that they are in,” Mr Koutsantonis.

This article appeared in The Naracoorte News, 3 September 2025.