Regional Victorians are driving on some of the worst roads in the state, with the state’s independent auditor confirming more than half of the roads across the Hume region are rated poor or very poor.
The findings are contained in the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) report, Maintaining State Roads, released today, which confirmed successive road maintenance cuts and funding failures by the Carroll Labor Government.
The Nationals Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland MP, said the findings were the consequence of more than a decade of cuts to Victoria’s road network by the Labor Government.
“Despite years of Labor gaslighting regional Victorians, communities always knew our road network was no longer car-worthy,” Ms Cleeland said.
“These are the roads people rely on every day to get to work, take their kids to school, get to medical appointments and move livestock, grain and goods across our region.”
VAGO found the network’s decline is accelerating, with roads rated poor or very poor rising from around 39 per cent in 2021 to around 48 per cent in 2024, and defects now appearing faster than they are being fixed.
Ms Cleeland said Labor had spent years responding to road failures rather than properly maintaining roads before they reached that point.
“We keep seeing potholes patched, only for the same roads to deteriorate again,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Patching a pothole is not the same as maintaining a road.
“The Labor Government cannot keep waiting until roads are falling apart before it acts. By then, the damage is worse, the repairs cost more and regional motorists have already spent years putting up with unsafe and uncomfortable roads.”
The audit also found the Department of Transport and Planning had advised the Labor Government that current funding levels were insufficient to maintain or improve the network, with funding increasingly directed towards reactive and safety-critical repairs rather than planned preventative maintenance.
Ms Cleeland said the Labor Government could no longer ignore the warnings coming from its own department.
“This is not just my assessment of the roads, or the frustration of regional communities — this is the Auditor-General and the Government’s own department confirming the current approach isn’t working,” Ms Cleeland said.
“We need to stop managing our roads from crisis to crisis and start properly maintaining them before they fail.”
Ms Cleeland said this was why Victorians were desperate for the Liberals and Nationals’ $5 billion commitment to fix Victoria’s road network and establish Better Roads Victoria.
The commitment follows a recent announcement that a Liberals and Nationals government will invest $288 million over four years through a re-established Country Roads and Bridges Program, delivering $1.5 million a year to every rural and regional council.
“Regional Victorians shouldn’t have to fight to understand who is responsible for which roads when so much of the state’s network is failing to meet a basic safety standard,” Ms Cleeland said.
“The Liberals and Nationals are the only ones with a plan to fix Victoria’s roads.”
