Kavel MP Dan Cregan reveals Adelaide Hills election wishlist, calls on both parties to fix critical lack in infrastructure

Controversial independent MP Dan Cregan has revealed his list of urgent work needed in the Hills – and it could become demands if his vote is needed to form government.

Hills residents have been suffering the “the curse of the safe seat” for too long according to independent Kavel MP Dan Cregan, who is calling on major parties to heed his warning ahead of next week’s state election.

Mr Cregan on Friday unveiled his election wishlist and said a whole-of-government plan was needed to address the region’s shortcomings, including the need for additional ambulance crews and a new hospital in Mount Barker.

Mr Cregan also flagged the need of a night doctor at the Gumeracha Hospital emergency department

The local hospital made the decision to shut its ED indefinitely after the state government’s inaction over critical staffing issues.

Kavel MP and Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly Dan Cregan. Picture Emma Brasier

Other items on Mr Cregan’s wishlist included school upgrades at Oakbank and Mount Barker, a rail link to Adelaide, more bus services, funding for TAFE and fixing the Mount Barker ring route.

He’s also calling for funding to upgrade the Woodside pool and urgent upgrades on the Onkaparinga Valley/Tiers Road intersection.

Protecting critical aquifer systems in Woodside against possible damage from underground mining also ranked high on the list.

With the Hills region to reach 100,000 residents by 2036, Mr Cregan said urgent action was needed.

“Every town in Kavel is growing. Mount Barker itself will soon be the largest city in SA after Adelaide,” he said.

“We need a considered increase in state government spending to ensure we don’t end up with a Hills planning disaster that future generations just can’t fix.

“I’m putting my community first by running as an independent to ensure there is a real focus on these 10 issues and other important improvements we need in our community.

“For too long we have suffered the curse of the safe seat with neither major party interested in our problems. We now have the government at full attention.”

Mr Cregan was a Liberal MP who went to the crossbench after quitting his party over last year what he called a lack of interest by the state government in fixing ambulance and traffic issues in the Hills.

He controversially became Speaker in October last year after a late-night coup that enraged his former Liberal colleagues, including his fellow Hills MP and former Speaker Josh Teague.

At Thursday’s debate, neither Premier Steven Marshall nor Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas ruled out doing deals with independent MPs if they did not win a majority vote at March 19’s state election.

Mr Cregan, who will spend Friday vying for voters at Mount Barker’s early-voting booth, said he felt confident about election day.

“I’ve been very grateful for the support of my community and feel that they understand we’ve suffered the curse of the safe seat,” he said.

“They’ve looked to the very positive experience we’ve had with Rebekha (Sharkie) and I feel that they are looking for someone to ensure that all governments are held to account after the election – I’m prepared to do that.”