Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Statements on parliamentary committee reports

Economy and Infrastructure Committee

Inquiry into the Impact of Road Safety Behaviours on Vulnerable Road Users

Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (10:25): I rise to speak on the inquiry into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, motorcyclists, children and the elderly, who deserve the full focus of our government, particularly as their safety outcomes have not kept pace with other road users. Victoria’s roads are a national disgrace, and there is no other way to put it. The government was forced to fill about 220,000 potholes last year, which is one pothole for every 100 metres of state-managed road. But I do not need to tell Victorians about this. They know how bad our roads are because they drive on them every single day. I was shocked to learn that it has been reported that despite Victoria’s roads needing 1.25 million pothole repairs over the past five years and, despite 64 per cent of Victorian motorists saying potholes and poor road conditions are their biggest road safety concern and despite Victoria’s roads being a national embarrassment, the Allan Labor government’s solution to our crumbling roads was to slash repair works by a staggering 95 per cent last financial year. You heard me right: the government slashed road repairs by 95 per cent. At a time when the government should be heavily investing to fix our crumbling roads, their solution is to slash road repairs by 95 per cent and slash road resurfacing funding from $201.4 million to $37.6 million. It just does not make sense.

That is not all they are doing. In a mad dash to sell anything and everything so that they can cover up their financial mismanagement the Allan Labor government is preparing to sell off its own government-owned road repairer. Victoria is broke, and our roads and our cars are paying the price. As has been reported, the Allan Labor government is preparing to sell off government-owned road repairer SprayLine Road Services as it seeks every cent it can find to fix its ever-growing financial mess. Labor have already sold off the VicRoads licensing and registration division, the land titles office and even the Port of Melbourne, yet now they are looking to sell the final piece of the puzzle – the publicly owned road maintenance firm, the last line of government-managed road repair. As I said, it is the last remaining government-owned road maintenance firm and they are selling it off. The Allan Labor government has not made clear to Victorians what is very simple: how does selling off the government’s road repairer fix Victorian roads? Once SprayLine Road Services is gone, where will that leave Victoria when it comes to maintaining essential infrastructure like roads, highways and bridges? Instead of quick and desperate cash grabs because of their financial mismanagement we need some clear answers on how this decision will actually benefit Victorian road users in the years to come.

One of our local schools that has been strong in its advocacy to me on road safety is the wonderful Donvale Christian College, which is a fantastic school in my electorate. In fact there are some students here from there today. There is a student in the audience, Nathan in year 9 from DCC, who has raised the issue of Tindals Road; that is one I have heard about time and time again. These are road issues that are affecting not just road users who are drivers but also people who are students. I have had year ‍6s from DCC also write to me talking about the need for road improvement in our electorate as well as across Victoria.

I have spent a lot of time in this place advocating for roads to be fixed in my electorate. One I have raised and I will raise again today is the issue of the dangerous intersection of Marbert Court and Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte Road. Back in 2020 my predecessor Ryan Smith raised safety concerns about this intersection after many residents highlighted the risks posed by its design. They feared it would only be a matter of time before tragedy would strike, and tragically, on 12 May this year their worst fears were realised. A motorcyclist lost his life and another was left fighting for his life in hospital after a horrific crash at this intersection. I am calling on the minister to fix this intersection, despite her previous response to me when I raised this in Parliament. Someone has died at this intersection, and I will not stop until this deadly intersection is fixed, alongside Five Ways intersection in Warrandyte South.