Tuesday, 7 March 2023

 Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (19:07): (71) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I seek is for the minister to drive through South-West Coast to experience in person the roads that this government seems to believe are in excellent condition. This is not the first time I have invited a Minister for Roads and Road Safety to visit South-West Coast and look at the disgraceful condition of our roads. Every previous invitation has been ignored, and I expect this one will be too. My office is contacted daily by constituents and tourists who have travelled through South-West Coast who are horrified by the condition of our roads. The potholes frequently span the width of the carriageway, and the corrugations scrape the bottom of cars and shred tires. These roads are not just dangerous, they are unroadworthy.

For the Minister for Roads and Road Safety’s information I have compiled a list of the top 10 most complained-about roads in South-West Coast, and yes, each of these roads is an arterial road which is managed by Regional Roads Victoria. They are Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road, Princes Highway, Hopkins Highway, Warrnambool-Caramut Road, Hereford Road, Cobden-Warrnambool Road, Mailors Flat-Koroit Road, Myamyn-MacArthur Road, Hamilton-Port Fairy Road and Terang-Mortlake Road. These roads are significant thoroughfares carrying not just domestic vehicles with families and children but school buses, caravans, coaches, milk tankers, log trucks and trucks carrying aluminium ingots, grain, fertiliser, stockfeed and livestock. These roads have not transitioned into this condition overnight either. It is the accumulation of years of neglect and mismanagement that has led to so many of our roads being unroadworthy. I note that for 18 of the last 23 years Labor have governed Victoria, and the connection between the shocking condition of our roads and the general disdain shown by Labor to the regions cannot be ignored. It is disappointing that the people of South-West Coast are subjected to dangerous and dilapidated roads every time they venture out of their driveway.

Minister, our roads are not safe. Will you be brave enough to travel to South-West Coast to experience these roads for yourself? Bring the Premier too. Let us make a day of it. There is lots to see and do in South-West Coast, and dodging potholes is only part of the fun. By driving on these 10 roads you will be able to see some of the best and worst parts of the roads in the south-west at the same time. Given your speech in the Parliament this week at question time boasting how good regional roads are, you have clearly been misled. Come, come and see for yourself. How many people have to die on South-West Coast roads before this government will take responsibility and fix our roads?