Thursday, 7 April 2022

Princes Highway–Darling–Koornang roads, Malvern East

Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern) (09:42): The intersection of Princes Highway and Darling and Koornang roads in East Malvern has been the scene of a number of tragic pedestrian fatalities in recent months. Well before these deaths I called for the government to take action and fix this deadly intersection, but nothing happened. Following these tragedies the Minister for Roads and Road Safety wrote to me on 5 August last year, stating:

I am pleased to advise that funding has been secured to improve the safety at this intersection.

Eight months on and nothing has happened except the installation of an electronic sign encouraging drivers to look out for pedestrians. My community wants to know what real safety improvements will be made and when before tragedy strikes again.

Sally-Ann Filgate was a lady who, while crossing the road, was killed by a car at this intersection of Princes Highway and Koornang Road. I am informed by one of Mrs Filgate’s devastated children that the woman driving the car who caused the tragic death of the much-loved lady was only sentenced to 170 hours of community service—170 hours for cutting short a life that had so much more to give.

Under this government Victoria has a legal system but it does not have a justice system. I call on the Attorney-General to explain how such a sentence could possibly be justified and why the Office of Public Prosecutions decided not to appeal what seems a manifestly inadequate sentence. The relatives of Mrs Filgate deserve to know the reasons why.