Bypass impasse continues in 2025 state budget

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It remains unclear whether, or when, Murray Bridge will get a freight bypass and second Swanport Bridge following the 2025 state budget.

In the budget, handed down on Thursday, South Australia’s government committed $125 million to the bypass over the next 10 years.

Combined with previously announced federal funding, that would make it a $656 million project, linking the South Eastern Freeway to the Sturt Highway.

But the federal government had projected its cost at more than $1 billion.

Could the state government find $400 million worth of savings, or convince Canberra to make up the difference?

Treasurer Stephen Mullighan suggested many of the same benefits – like making the South Eastern Freeway safer, and freight transport more efficient – could be achieved on a much smaller budget.

Department for Infrastructure and Transport staff would be sent out to speak with local councils and community members, he said, to find out which sections of the route most needed upgrading.

“There’s $525 million on the table from the Commonwealth – that’s a very, very significant amount of money to be upgrading a regional route,” he said.

“It will certainly deliver some very significant improvements to increase safety and freight efficiency.”

However, he admitted that the federal government’s March 25 funding announcement “took us by surprise”.

Equally surprising, he said, had been the federal government’s insistence that SA pay for 50% of the project, when Queenslanders had been asked to pay for just 20% of a similar highway upgrade during the federal election campaign.

“If the federal government wants to make this an 80:20 project on the full billion-dollar budget, we’re absolutely up for that and we will increase our funding share (to about $200 million),” he said.

“We hope that we can convince them on this, but we’ve got to have those discussions yet.”

In a statement, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the state government had done all the necessary planning work on a “properly configured” bypass.

But: “We have always maintained that this nationally significant project should be funded on an 80:20 basis with the Commonwealth,” he said.

“We will continue discussions with the federal government on that basis.”

A similar project, called Globelink, was proposed by a former Liberal state government in 2018, but never built after projections showed it could cost as much as $7 billion.

However, Murray Bridge Mayor Wayne Thorley has since made reducing freight traffic a major focus of his term in office.

Cost of living and drought relief will continue, prison will be upgraded

Also relevant to the Murraylands in Thursday’s budget:

• Cost of living: No new relief was announced for regional families, but a $200 discount on school fees will continue until 2029.
• Farmers: Previously announced were $55 million worth of drought support and $3 million for dairy farmers affected by Beston Pure Foods’ collapse. The timing of the federal election had been “a bit of a barrier” to rolling out support, Mr Mullighan said, since federal agencies had been unable to do much during the pre-election caretaker period.
• Prisons: $72.4 million will get 116 extra beds at prisons around SA over the next four years, reducing the pressure on inmates and staff at Mobilong; new body scanners will be installed in the gatehouse as part of a $6.8 million statewide upgrade.
• River Murray: Over the next four years, $71.1 million will be spent reducing constraints on the delivery of environmental water to sites which need it, and $20.9 million will help councils reduce their use of river water. Over three years, environmental water planning and delivery systems will get a $3.3 million upgrade, and $1.7 million will go to the office of the Commissioner for the River Murray.
• Health: No new funding has been included for new maternity or dialysis wards needed at the Murray Bridge hospital. “Given how the pressures on the health system have escalated in recent years, and what we’re seeing with changes in housing development and population growth, we’re taking the time to make sure we’re going through a really thorough planning process to work out where (regional) hospital facilities should be.”
• Public transport: There’s no money for that in the Murraylands, either; but a trial of the Keoride on-demand bus service at Mount Barker will become permanent, showing a likely way forward for our region. “Rather than just putting bus stops along a road, running a service and seeing what happens … it’s more dynamic, more responsive to demand and more cost-effective for us to provide. Hopefully we’ve got the capacity to roll that out in other places in the future.”

Budget will continue SA’s positive momentum, premier says

Overall, the state government has forecast a $179 million surplus for 2025-26.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said it was impressive that SA’s economy had grown by 3.1% over the past year, and that the government had been able to deliver ongoing surpluses while improving debt forecasts– even with challenges like the drought and the collapse of the Whyalla steelworks.

“This balanced budget delivers for South Australians and sets our state up for the long term,” he said.

“Record investments continue to be delivered in infrastructure, health and housing while we deliver more police to keep our state safe, and accelerate plans for an entirely new year of education for our youngest children with three-year-old preschool.

“We’re doing all of this while delivering for our drought-stricken farmers and protecting our sovereign steel-making industry.”

• More information: www.statebudget.sa.gov.au.