Constituency questions
Malvern electorate
Michael O’BRIEN (Malvern) (14:51): (710) My constituency question is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and I ask: will the Labor government accept responsibility for the atrocious state of the roads in my Malvern electorate by properly compensating people who have suffered personal injury or property damage as a consequence? If cars are required to be roadworthy, shouldn’t our roads be carworthy? That is the question my constituents are asking, because their high taxes are not seeing even the basics done when it comes to road maintenance. Large potholes are laid out like landmines ready to cause major damage to cars and motorcycles. Worse, I have even had to write to the minister about a constituent who dislocated his shoulder coming off his bike thanks to a Toorak Road pothole. We know that Labor have slashed the road maintenance budget, so if they refuse to fix the roads the least the government should do is compensate my constituents who have suffered loss or damage as a result of this Labor government’s absolute failure.