Tuesday, 27 May 2025

Prahran electorate roads

Rachel WESTAWAY (Prahran) (19:17): (1169) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I am seeking is the urgent and timely repair of dangerous potholes on major roads running through the Prahran electorate. The state of disrepair of our roads is a serious issue that local residents raised with me during the recent by-election earlier this year, and it continues to be a serious concern for my constituents and the thousands of other Victorians who drive through my electorate on a daily basis. The roads that we are covering are Dandenong Road, Kings Way, Queens Road, St Kilda Road, Punt Road, Toorak Road, High Street, Commercial Road, Williams Road, Malvern Road and Alexandra Avenue. These roads are the gateways to Melbourne. They carry a lot of traffic every day of the week. With this heavy traffic load, the wear and tear on the roads is significant. There are cars, trucks, buses, trams, e-bikes, pedestrians and regular bikes. The electorate is one of the most densely populated as well.

Victorians, including the people of Prahran, rightly expect that the state government will maintain these major roads in a safe and usable condition, especially given that Victorians are paying the highest taxes in Australia and our state has a debt fast approaching $200 billion. Instead our roads are in a terrible condition, with drivers having to dodge potholes on almost every main road that they drive on. Potholes do not only cause inconvenience, they can cause damage to cars and trucks, adding further costs for families already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and Labor’s ever-increasing taxes and charges. There is even more danger for cyclists and motorcyclists, with the potential for serious injury to these vulnerable road users. They are also a trip hazard for pedestrians.

The people of Prahran recognise that this is not just a local issue – roads are in bad condition across the state. Given the high taxes and the mounting debt imposed on us by this government, the public rightly expect the government will prioritise delivery of essential services, including regular and timely maintenance of our roads. Instead we saw in last week’s budget that the government did not allocate money to fixing our roads. In real terms the budget cut road maintenance funding, which only fuelled the fears of Victorians that their already crumbling roads will get even worse rather than better under this government.

Locals are telling me that potholes continue to appear on our roads faster than they are being repaired, which just makes our roads more unsafe for everyone. Some potholes are not even properly repaired; they are covered off with a blue metal plate which protrudes above the road surface and creates a further risk to road users, especially cyclists. The minister might say that this is just a temporary fix, but if the temporary fix to potholes at the intersection of Williams Road and Malvern Road is any guide, then the use of that word is very misleading. This temporary fix was put in place in January this year after I raised it as a concern during the by-election. Four months later the supposedly temporary plate is still there. Minister, all Victorians deserve better.