Daniel Wills: Marshall offers a vision, not criticism

ANALYSIS: OPPOSITION Leader Steven Marshall this week pledged 2017 would be a year of positive policies from the Liberals, and few could argue this road-rail-airport plan isn’t a big vision.

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OPPOSITION Leader Steven Marshall this week pledged 2017 would be a year of positive policies from the Liberals, and few could argue this road-rail-airport plan isn’t a big vision.

In fact, the big criticism is likely to be that it’s just much too big to ever get off the ground.

The deafening all-hours screech of heavy trains through the Adelaide Hills has long been a frustration for local residents, who also fear sparks from the line pose a serious bushfire risk.

Add the fact that the state desperately has to supercharge exports and investment if it is going to create the new jobs and wealth needed for improved economic fortunes, and this plan ticks a lot of boxes.

This policy also has the political byproduct of appealing to residents in the Hills, a key electoral territory where the Nick Xenophon Team has a federal MP and will run at the state election.

But the price tag could be heavy enough to stop a freight train at full speed.

Mr Marshall is currently unable to say exactly how much the project would cost, other than to say it would be several billions, and expects it would take up to a decade to deliver in full.

Old estimates delivered to the Federal Government suggest a lot of work, which Mr Marshall pledges to do when in government, is needed to prove the project stacks up.

The Opposition has, in the past week — as most workplaces fire up to full activity after Christmas — taken several major steps toward repositioning itself ahead of the state election.

Criticised as old, negative and policy-light, the Liberals have a jump on Labor in picking their candidates for 2018, and have now added a major infrastructure pledge to existing plans for shopping hours reform and cutting Emergency Services Levy bills.

At the same time, a PR campaign is underway in paid advertising that seeks to cast Mr Marshall is a softer light.

While this proposal is likely to generate a lot of debate, it also indicates a big political shift.

The Liberals have finally moved into the phase of articulating what they would do in government, rather that just running commentary on what Labor’s done wrong lately.