Danny O’Brien – Road repairs and safety slashed because Labor can’t manage money
Friday 24 May 2024
The Allan Labor Government will slash road repairs by 75 per cent next financial year, despite the dire state of our roads, Parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee has heard.
Labor also cut $88 million from its Road Safety Fund this year and will oversee a further reduction of 27 per cent next financial year, despite a rise in the road toll.
The government’s budget papers indicate the area of road subject to resurfacing or rehabilitation has fallen from 12 million square metres two year ago to just three million next year.
Alarmingly, the roads maintenance budget is 16 per cent less now than it was in 2020 and our roads continue to get worse for it.
The hearings revealed 388 km of road are now subject to speed restrictions due to lack of maintenance, while in the past three years almost 2000 Victorians have lodged claims for compensation due to damage to vehicles caused by the roads.
Despite the cuts – or perhaps because of them – the government is refusing to release a survey it undertook last year that revealed 91 per cent of roads reviewed were in poor or very poor condition.
Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Danny O’Brien, said the budget was another failure for roads around the state.
“Labor can’t manage money and Victorians are paying the price,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Successive years of budget cuts have left our roads in a dire state and this budget ensures they won’t get better.
“Indeed, reductions in the resurfacing and rehabilitation program will only see our roads get worse in future.
“The Minister Melissa Horne is creating a time bomb through her lack of attention to roads, while Labor wastes billions of dollars in cost over-runs on city mega-projects.”