A new $5 billion road maintenance fund will be established by the Nationals and Liberals that will drastically improve road safety and construction standards and deliver meaningful relief for Victorian drivers.
The Nationals’ Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe said the Nationals and Liberals will invest $5 billion over four years to fix 1 million potholes and take Victoria’s road maintenance standards back to where they should be.
“Victorian drivers are sick of having to travel on dangerous and unsafe roads that are plagued with potholes and having to pay for costly repairs due to no fault of their own.”
“People right across our region are fed up with the neglect of our roads that are in an appalling condition, or that have been patched up rather than properly constructed or maintained.
“Whether it be the Goulburn Valley Highway, Midland Highway, Barmah-Shepparton Road, Murchinson-Tatura Road or any local arterial road in between, people have had enough by the way Labor and Jacinta Allan have neglected our roads,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“The appalling and unsafe state of our roads is unbelievable, and it is hard to comprehend the level of neglect whilst the government continues to pour billions into cost blowouts and corruption on government Big Build sites.”
The new fund will re-establish Better Roads Victoria as a standalone agency, rebuilding the engineering and technical expertise stripped out when the Allan Labor Government axed Regional Roads Victoria.
Ms O’Keeffe said the new fund was part of the Nationals broad commitment to regional Victoria through the Fair Share Guarantee, that will deliver 25 per cent of the state’s infrastructure spending to the regions.
“Under Labor and Jacinta Allan, regional Victoria gets less than 12 per cent of infrastructure spending despite making up a quarter of the state’s population. That’s just not right and that’s exactly why our roads are literally falling apart.
“Only the Nationals in government will bring this number to 25 per cent by stopping the waste and ending the corruption.
“Our roads will be fixed once and fixed properly, with contractors held accountable for the quality of their work and speed limits restored once works are completed.
“Regional Victoria deserves its fair share, and this includes roads that are roadworthy to drive on and only the Nationals in government will deliver that to Victorians.”
Photo Caption: The Nationals Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe pictured with Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Danny O’Brien observing the appalling state of the roads.
