Users of the Gawler to Adelaide train services should brace themselves for further delays to the completion of the electrification of the rail line warns local Member of Parliament Mr Tony Piccolo.

Mr Piccolo said he was astonished to hear the Minister for Transport, Corey Wingard telling ABC radio this morning that the completion date for the rail upgrade “… is fundamentally irrelevant.”

“It was clear from the radio interview that the Minister was softening up the local community to accept further delays to the return of the train services.”

“The return of train services may be irrelevant to the Minister but are certainly not to the local people who rely on the trains for work, visits to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and students attending University or schools in the city.”

“Once again this Minister is giving the people in Gawler and the Northern Suburbs the ‘political middle finger’.”

Responding to growing community outrage about the use of interstate and overseas labour on the project and citing this as the reason for further delays in the project, the Minister went on radio this morning to justify the ongoing and increasing delays to the completion of the project.

The Minister told ABC Radio,  ..“[a]s far as getting workers in from interstate, making sure SA Health is satisfied with that, but also when it comes to train projects, you’ve got to make sure you are ticking all the boxes.  So the date is fundamentally irrelevant.”

“This Marshall Liberal Government Minister has shown a distinct indifference to the difficulties the rail closure has caused for many local people.”

Mr Piccolo said this is not the first time the Minister has demonstrated his contempt for the people of Gawler and the Northern Suburbs.

“Last week I delivered a speech in State Parliament listing a number of instances where the Minister has given local people the ‘political middle finger’ with his responses to concerns raised by local people.”

In April earlier this year, I wrote to the Minister highlighting a number of issues raised by local people, and it took the Minister 5 months to respond, and that is after having to send a further three reminder notices.

“I asked the Minister:

·        to consider increasing the number of express substitute buses to Adelaide, seeking assurance that the disability access issues at Tambelin Station would be addressed as part of the rail upgrade,

·        sought details of community engagement for the new train timetables to be introduced when the train returned and asked for support for local students who were missing out on school excursions because the lack of trains.

“After 5 months of waiting for a response I received a less than two-page letter full of gratuitous self-congratulatory statements, comments bashing the previous labor government, but no remarks directly addressing the issues I raised.”

“My letter was polite and made gentle suggestions as to how some of the issues could be addressed, and all I got back was a “political middle finger”. “

“While the Minister was probably thinking how smart he was being by his lack of response, all he did was once again demonstrate his arrogance and disdain towards the people of Gawler and the Northern Suburbs.”

“His response didn’t hurt me, it hurt the people in my electorate.”

“My community deserves better than this.”

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