‘SENSIBLE LOCAL VOICE’

Southend is a community not unlike many small regional communities across South Australia, or indeed the country.  Individually, communities like Southend may seem small but collectively they make up a substantial proportion of our population and give our national identity its depth of character.

I pride myself on giving a voice to small communities, like Southend, because local communities represent the beating heart of our great nation and each and every one should be valued and respected for the contribution they make to our national experience.

Sadly, the very attributes that make a small community such a great place to live, work and raise a family are often the reasons why centralised decision making fails them.  Be it corporate executives, departmental officials or inner-city Ministers, decision makers with no connection to the regions often overlook the needs of small communities because their issues are ‘out of sight, out of mind’ or hard to find on a profit and loss statement or right at the bottom of polling booth data set.

The intersection of Southern Ports Highway and Southend Access Road is a case in point.  The ongoing fight to have it fixed illustrates perfectly a much broader issue.  Despite the obvious road safety issue and the local community’s determination, the need for something to be done at that intersection fell on deaf ears on North Terrace in Adelaide for far too long.

Despite local representatives across three levels of government and the state’s peak motoring body (the RAA) all advocating for a solution, decision makers based in Adelaide continued to refuse to authorise the installation of a relatively simple, but life-saving slip lane that would likely prevent yet another unnecessary death on our roads.

My calls for the State Government to agree to the intersection works were met with nothing short of contempt with Minister Koutsantonis insisting that, “…the junction is operating safely and is in satisfactory condition in its current layout,” highlighting in his crass response the fact that there had been no fatalities and that it would cost over five times more than the estimate provided by the Wattle Range Council to complete the works.

The fact that the State’s Infrastructure Minister has finally conceded and accepted the Council’s costings and is funding the works to be undertaken by the Wattle Range Council in line with those costings is a win for common sense and hopefully a lesson not lost on anyone.

From healthcare, childcare, telecommunications, banking services or public infrastructure every Australian community deserves to be heard on the issues that matter to them. That’s why I will continue to amplify Barker’s voice and ensure that every community, no matter how remote or small, remains a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Printed in The Border Watch, 26 July 2024