Commenting on the opinion piece: Tackling SA’s giant debt in five easy steps

Very well written. Just absurd that governments want to tax, tax, tax. Perhaps if they let people spend their own money, not so many would be in such serious situations.

Don’t tax – actually show some restraint and balance your books. Seems they don’t care about the majority of  people, they are either ill informed or too far removed from reality. – Frank Wauchope

Matthew Abraham has found one actually important saving the government could make in this list of “savings” that reads like a boomer wrote it on a Facebook rant.

The north-south corridor is a waste of time, money and space and should be axed. For the cost of one section of extremely expensive road, the government could instead build unimaginably better public transport routes and options, taking much of the need for the cars being on the road in the first place out of the equation.

I will say I was harsh to begin with but I feel more than anything that people cannot fathom not building roads because we have such woefully designed and thought-out public transport. A train network like Perth or a tram network like what was here in the 50s would be a gamechanger for a fraction of the cost. – Matthew McDonnell

You’re not wrong, Matthew, regarding the Government’s complete lack of resolve to rein in state debt. However I think you underestimate the electorate, which I think is beginning to understand the dangers that lie ahead for us as a State, and as individual taxpayers.

Most of us are concerned with cost of living pressures, and we can all hear the IMF, the Commonwealth, the Reserve Bank, and now EY, warning that the State Governments’ excessive borrowing and spending, especially on costly infrastructure, are adding to inflation.

So I agree – the Government should cancel the “hard bit” of the South Road renovation. It’s never had a positive business case for us. Also it should revisit the astonishing level of spend on the proposed WCH,  which I suspect has blown out well beyond the year-old $3.2 billion estimate.  An update on that figure is long overdue. Has it hit $4 billion yet?

There is much the Government could do to make a start on reducing State debt. Beginning with not insulting the electorate’s fiscal intelligence. -Stephen Trenowden

Many moons ago when he was a radio jock on ABC 891, Matthew Abraham helped me to save the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at FMC, but clearly, he still doesn’t understand much about hospitals.

The old WCH, parts of which date back to 1872, is beyond refurbishment or expansion. As is now commonplace in the western world, the safe care of women, mothers and children needs to be integrated with facilities in a general hospital. This is what will be achieved when a much-needed new WCH is built on the old, time-expired Thebarton Barracks site.

The only flaw in this otherwise excellent plan is the stupid decision to relocate the police horses to distant Gepps Cross and to have them ‘staged’ on prime CBD land which will inevitably be required for expansion of the Law Courts and other legal facilities. This was the result of a populist and politically motivated decision to avoid using a small, desolate and unused portion of Park 21w in the park lands.

New tertiary hospitals are an expensive but essential part of the fabric and function of modern society. They certainly have priority in the infrastructure stakes and, dare I say it, over nuclear submarines costing up to $368 billion with doubtful strategic value. – Warren Jones

Commenting on the story: Slowdown: Adelaide’s traffic grind revealed in new official data

It is no surprise that Adelaide traffic has worsened – anecdotally everyone can see that. Why is it so?

Proliferation of traffic lights, many unnecessary. How much time do we waste at traffic lights when there is no other car in sight.

Disappearance of ‘turn left with care’ signs, as per point one. I like the US system where in most states you can turn with care on a red light.

Roadworks – seem to pick the worst times to carry out roadworks. Bad planning. See it all the time, eg, when we have a car race on blocking half the roads on the eastern side of the city, we start doing roadworks on roads in the western part of the city.

Unnecessary speed restrictions and lane blocking. Often when there is no activity or minor activity in one lane, we see fit to put very low speed restrictions in place that causes traffic pile-up.

I think it’s just irresponsible planning. Apart from the time lost and productivity lost, fuel wasted etc, this is environmentally very bad as cars sit in traffic polluting the atmosphere. Adelaide is not such a big city, but driving around in the traffic sure makes it feel that way. – Con Manias

I would have to agree with the RAA. It’s population growth and the lack of investment in infrastructure that has caused this problem. Successive governments are great at banging on about growing the population, but they spend a pittance on roads and public transport.

I can remember being able to drive from Gawler to the city in 25 to 35 mins and this wasn’t speeding, or aberrant quiet road conditions, it was the regular time to do the trip, circa the late 70s and early 80s. Try that today.

This state is ridiculous re road conditions: not one pedestrian over-road walkway anywhere south of Salisbury, so stop the flow of traffic for maybe two or three pedestrians. Prospect Road central area is another example: four sets of traffic lights within a 500-to-600-metre strip and not one of them synchronised to allow flow of traffic. Adelaide lives in a vacuum compared to cities of its size around the world. – James Baker

Commenting on the story: High-rise towers, hotel and 600 apartments planned for CBD site

Finally Adelaide is growing, please just get on with it everyone. – Wayne Parker 

This massive project not only pre-empts the findings of the City Plan Review, but also ignores the fact we are in a Declared Climate Emergency, while failing to meet our global obligations.

To contain global warming to 1.50C, it is imperative that we not only reduce ‘operational’ carbon but also that ‘embodied’ in materials and construction – unfortunately overlooked in our current planning assessment processes.

By my calculation, 600 new apartments alone would generate around 18,000 tonnes of embodied carbon, not to mention that associated with retail and commercial space. With this in mind, it is surely time to constrain such gross overbuilding in Adelaide? – David Ness