The Nationals’ Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe, is demanding a significant increase in road maintenance funding in the 2025/26 Victorian Budget, which will be handed down on May 20.
Despite the dire condition of regional roads across the state, the last Victorian Budget showed that road maintenance funding was 16 per cent lower than in 2020, a decrease from $807.4 million per year to $680.2 million.
Last year, road maintenance work in regional Victoria dropped by 95 per cent, despite a maintenance backlog worth billions of dollars across the regional road network.
While the Allan Labor Government pours billions into costly city infrastructure overruns and the misguided Suburban Rail Loop, the condition of unsafe regional roads continues to deteriorate.
“The neglect of regional roads reflects the complete contempt in which this government holds regional Victorians,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“The Allan Labor Government is wasting billions of dollars in the city while regional roads are decimated by potholes and crumbling before our eyes due to the lack of maintenance.
“The upcoming Budget must deliver a massive investment in road maintenance to catch up and repair our roads that have been neglected for far too long.
“The Treasurer represents our region and should also understand how essential well-maintained roads are to our economy.
“We have a huge volume of transport, with a quarter of the state’s trucks registered in the Shepparton region, all of which depend on a safe and efficient road network.
“Damage to these trucks due to the appalling condition of the roads is costing companies thousands of dollars in repairs every month and over just the past three years, claims for cars damaged by road conditions have increased by over 400 per cent.”
With road maintenance targets continually being missed, road conditions are the single biggest safety concern for regional road users according to a survey conducted by the RACV.
“People are sick to death of having to navigate the appalling and unsafe condition of our roads,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“Our road toll continues to rise while our roads become more dangerous by the day.
“The government’s own road survey shows that more than 90 per cent of Victorian roads are in poor or very poor condition.
“This has to change, and it is time the government put the money needed to fix our roads in the upcoming Budget.
“The government has also cut $88 million from the Road Safety Fund in 2023 while allocating more money to speed cameras.
“The Allan Labor Government has got their priorities all wrong and they continue to turn their backs on regional Victoria.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage road maintenance and regional Victorians are paying the price.”
