Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Statements on parliamentary committee reports

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

Report on the 2024‒25 Budget Estimates

[QUOTES AWAITING VERIFICATION]

Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (10:10): I rise today to speak on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s 2024–25 budget estimates report. The report highlights several issues that are directly affecting our communities throughout the Euroa electorate, many of which were also raised by some very, very impressive year 5 and 6 students from Avenel Primary School who visited Parliament this week. They spoke with clarity, passion and real insight about the problems facing local communities, problems that adults across our region have been raising for many, many years. One section of the report covers the Department of Transport and Planning. Road safety and maintenance remain a glaring problem across regional Victoria. But I had the students of Avenel Primary write some notes for me, and Jamieson, a student from Avenel, said:

On the Seymour-Avenel Road there are potholes where the bend is. Someone spun out once and nearly crashed. Can you please fix this issue?

Oliver said:

On the Avenel-Nagambie Road there are potholes and tree roots under the road, making huge bumps, and it is even worse on the Hume. People must change lanes every 2 minutes to dodge potholes.

These are concerns echoed by people across the entire electorate, because roads are seriously dangerous.

I dropped in to visit Zoe and the awesome team at Tyrepower in Seymour, who have actually increased their staffing on a Monday because they have so much work from damaged cars and tyres throughout the weekend. Wire rope barriers have huge problems. They are broken and lying on the ground along the Hume, and fatalities on regional roads have increased significantly in recent years. Local lives are lost every single week, and the government continues to gut funding for maintenance and road safety. This year we have seen a 93 per cent reduction in road patching and a further 14 per cent cut when it comes to resealing and rehabilitation of our roads. The budget papers also highlight massive shortcomings, with the repair target half of what was aimed at, a nearly 1 million square metre target. But what is more alarming is this year it was dramatically reduced to just 70,000 square metres. Tell me lives are not going to be the casualty in that absolutely appalling neglect of our roads. The report reveals that $1.13 billion has been taken from the Transport Accident Commission, money that should have gone straight back into improving our road conditions. But instead it is just plugging Labor’s budget black hole.

The committee also examined emergency services in their report, and once again the picture for regional communities is really, really alarming. Tilly Eagles, Avenel Primary again, wrote:

The fire service levy is more stress onto farmers. Are you trying to throw farmers off the land?

Aidan McMahon, her friend, raised the alarming impact on the CFA volunteers:

CFA members that own properties are going on strike because of how much money they have to pay. I hope we vote to remove the new levy.

These are year 6 students, and even they can see the Allan Labor government is punishing regional Victoria. CFA funding has been cut by $42 million this year, there are no CFA tankers in the forward estimates and just $13.5 million has been allocated to regional CFA upgrades. Volunteer brigades like Strathbogie are still operating out of sheds with no toilets, no water and no changerooms. It is unacceptable. If this government can tax every landholder through the emergency services tax, it must ensure that funding actually goes to the front line.

The committee’s analysis of the health portfolio is also very, very concerning. Ambulance Victoria’s target to respond to code 1 emergencies within 15 minutes at least 85 per cent of the time is absolutely failing. In Benalla it sits at less than 60 per cent, Mitchell shire is 52.3 per cent and Strathbogie is less than 40 per cent. These are lives, people waiting too long, and in some cases we have seen it is fatal. Ambulance ramping has left just 4 per cent of the fleet available during critical periods. Locally we have seen cuts to mental health in Broadford, shrinking maternity services in Kilmore, Benalla still without dialysis treatment and no certainty around funding for patient transport services.

These outcomes are the result of years of neglect and mismanagement by the Allan Labor government. The young students from Avenel Primary School reminded all of us that these issues are not political talking points. They are the voices of children speaking plainly and honestly and with the wisdom that puts many in this place to shame. As the saying goes, out of the mouths of babes comes the truth, and these young students have shown us that the truth is crystal clear. Our roads are dangerous, our emergency services are under strain and our health system is failing too many people. This is what communities expect and deserve: a better government.