Anthony Albanese, the man expected to be Australia’s next infrastructure minister, pleads the case for light rail

Extending the Adelaide tram network should be the state’s public transport priority, says the man expected to be Australia’s next infrastructure minister.

Extending the Adelaide tram network should be the state’s public transport priority, says the man expected to be Australia’s next infrastructure minister.

Opposition infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese told The Advertiser that a Bill Shorten-led federal Labor government would commit to the former SA Labor government’s AdeLINK plan.

Tram services to Norwood, Unley, Prospect and Adelaide Airport were to be delivered under the scheme.

The tram extension on North Terrace. Picture: AAP / Dean Martin

“The extension of light rail in Adelaide completely makes sense in terms of dollar value,” Mr Albanese said.

“You have wide streets, it is flat, light rail is very efficient at moving people around and it is very convenient.

“The benefit of AdeLINK was that it was a proposal to expand it everywhere.”

The Steven Marshall-led state Liberals have scrapped the former government’s tram extension plans. Mr Marshall argued in the lead-up to last year’s state election that many of the proposed routes, particularly a line to The Parade at Norwood, were not necessary.

He instead committed to send four city loop options and one for a North Adelaide extension to Infrastructure SA for assessment.

But in September the State Government was caught unawares by revelations former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, before being ousted, had plans to fund a $185 million extension of the Adelaide tram network.

SA Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll told the Sunday Mail in July nothing was off the table as work began on designing the best public transport system for greater Adelaide.

Mr Knoll yesterday said creating an efficient and sustainable system remained a priority.

“With rapid advancements in technology such as trackless trams, autonomous vehicles and the expansion of ride sharing we don’t want to limit our thinking just to light rail,” Mr Knoll said.

“The South Australian Public Transport Authority will inform the development of a comprehensive strategy that is customer-focused, more reliable and better suits the needs of the state.”

Mr Knoll said the authority should be up and running by the end of the year.

Tourism growth in regional SA a Labor priority

Projects in regional South Australia aimed at driving greater tourism growth will be a high priority for the man expected to be the nation’s infrastructure minister if Bill Shorten wins government.

In an exclusive interview with The Advertiser opposition infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese said he would like to see more infrastructure projects in regional South Australia, where there is “huge potential”.

“There is huge potential in places like Port Lincoln, all along the coast and the wine regions,” he said.

“I have had roundtable meetings with the South Australian tourism industry and they talk with one voice and a lot of that activity is about regional areas whether it be the Barossa or the Clare Valley or Mount Gambier or all around.”

In November tourism figures for South Australia showed regional parts of the state had been the big winner in the growth of international tourism numbers to the state, with the Riverland recording a 44 per cent jump in visitors to 10,349 last financial year.

A Tourism Australia campaign to encourage people to visit Kangaroo Island.

There was also significant growth in other regions including Murray River, Lakes and Coorong (40 per cent), Adelaide Hills, 16 per cent and Barossa 14 per cent.

The government has also put out an expressions of interest process aimed at getting more private investment into the regions.

Mr Albanese, who was the minister responsible for a raft portfolios including transport, infrastructure and regional development in the former federal governments led by Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, raised concerns about the State Government’s commitment to transport after it dropped its financial support for The Overland train service that runs between Melbourne and Adelaide.

He did say, however, if Labor was elected he would work with the State Government to get projects off the ground.

Mr Albanese denied South Australia would not be getting much infrastructure spending commitments during the federal election because a lack of marginal seats.

“(When in government) we did the largest ever tourism infrastructure upgrade on Kangaroo Island, of 17 projects, which was in Mayo at a time when it was a very safe Liberal seat,” Mr Albanese said.