Wednesday, 31 May 2023

Eildon electorate roads

Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (17:18): (214) My matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I seek is for the minister to fix the roads in my electorate. In particular the Melba Highway is in an appalling state. Despite some works being done in the vicinity of Devlins Bridge, a lot more needs to be done. There has been a lot of rain and the road condition, because it was not done properly, is just continuing to get worse and worse. It is not just the Melba Highway. I have the Eltham-Yarra Glen Road, which is in a bad condition, the Goulburn Valley Highway at Killingworth, the Warburton Highway and the Healesville-Yarra Glen Road. There are so many roads that need work done, and I am very disappointed that at the minute all we are seeing is a cut to the road maintenance budget.

I have written to the minister five times this year already – that is more than once a month – about dodgy roads. Last year I wrote 16 letters to the minister about the roads, about the condition of the roads, about pedestrian safety, about signage, wildlife and blocked drains, and things are just not getting any better. I constantly hear of matters where people have popped tyres. I hear and see cars that are pulled over to the side of the road because they have got a puncture. But it is not just one car; there will be several cars in a row because they have all hit the same pothole. The potholes are very deep and they are filled with water. It has been quite wet, and so the potholes have been filling up with water, so you cannot always see it, and you do not always know how deep they are. We have got crumbling shoulders and kicked-up bitumen. The camber is uneven, the bitumen is eroded and in so many places there is no traction and the surfaces are too smooth – very smooth – so they slip and spin very easily. The Labor government have been really quite appalling in their management of the roads, and as I have said, the budget has been cut rather than increased. They are punishing Victorians with a $380 million reduction in the annual spending on road maintenance since 2020. That is a massive 45 per cent cut. In this year’s budget the road maintenance is cut by a further 25 per cent to just $441 million. This is less than the last budget of the former coalition government in 2014.

The Andrews Labor government has a lot to do in this area. They need to have a look at regional roads and support the regional electorates. What we see happening is that tourists from city areas are doing the damage to their cars; it is not just the locals. It is constant damage. You only have to talk to the tyre repair places to gauge the extent of the issue. I urge the minister to please let us know what the plans are. When is the Melba Highway going to be fixed, and when are the other potholes in my electorate?