Labor and Libs battle for Adelaide Hills independent’s support as hung parliament looms in SA

The Adelaide Hills city of Mount Barker is being showered with riches as its independent MP Dan Cregan looms as a state election ‘kingmaker’.

The fast-growing Adelaide Hills city of Mt Barker is being showered with riches as its local independent MP and former Liberal Dan Cregan looms as a political kingmaker at next Saturday’s state election.

Labor is going all out in the Adelaide Hills – not so much to woo the voters in the traditional Liberal seat, but to woo Mr Cregan himself in the event of a hung parliament.

In the past two weeks it has earmarked $220m for a brand new Mt Barker hospital, a new $4.5m ambulance station and support for a trial of Adelaide Hills rail services proposed by Spanish rail infrastructure firm Talgo.

Of the four ex-Liberal independents in the SA parliament, Mr Cregan is regarded as the least indebted to his former party and the most likely to side with Labor – but only if it offers the best deal for his constituents.

Mr Cregan told The Australian he had already indicated that while his natural tendency as a former Liberal was to support the Marshall government, he would make a final decision based purely on which party would address the infrastructure deficit in the Hills.

He said he was glad that the battle for Kavel was finally a contest and that the seat was no longer being taken for granted.

“For years we have suffered the curse of the safe seat, with our needs overlooked by the major parties,” Mr Cregan told The Australian on Sunday.

“Now we have their attention.

“My instinct is to support the government but the government must support our community.”

While Labor is leading the ­running with big Hills promises, the Liberals have also crafted several announcements for the Hills and have called on commonwealth ­assistance, with federal Health Minister announcing $101m for new mental health centres in Mt Barker and northern ­Adelaide and $19m for park-and-ride facilities to ease congestion on the South Eastern Freeway.

But the Liberals have stopped well short of Labor’s largesse, with Treasurer Rob Lucas denouncing its spending as an extravagance.

“This is now becoming beyond a joke,” Mr Lucas said.

“In fact, this is the type of spending frenzy that would even make Kim Kardashian blush.”

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas accused the government of neglecting the area, saying its $220m hospital was needed to triple the number of existing beds and address the ramping ­crisis.

“The new hospital will enable more people in Mt Barker to be treated locally, rather than needing to travel to the Royal Adelaide Hospital or Flinders Medical Centre for treatment – and reducing pressure on those hospitals,” Mr Malinauskas said.

Mt Barker was a sleepy country hamlet 30 years ago, but is now home to about 37,000 people and that is expected to grow to more than 56,000 within 15 years.

Labor says its growth is underscored by the surge in demand for medical services at its current small hospital, which saw emergency department attendances grow from 14,812 to 19,224 – a 30 per cent increase – in the 12 months to July 2021.

The hospital admitted 7592 patients in 2019-20 compared to just 3293 patients in 2011-12, more than doubling its intake in less than a decade.

Steven Marshall was asked jokingly on Friday if he would promise to build two hospitals in Mt Barker if Mr Cregan held the balance of power.

“Maybe you should ask Peter Malinauskas if he’ll build 37 ­hospitals,” the Premier told Radio FiveAA.