Thursday, 30 October 2025

 Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (09:59): Last month a 19-year-old was struck and killed by a truck on Macaulay Road in Kensington. He was simply riding his bike to uni on his birthday. This is devastating for his family, friends and our whole community, but unfortunately this was not just an isolated tragedy. This young man was the eighth cyclist to die on Victorian roads so far this year. Cyclist deaths on our roads are often preventable if safer bike lanes are in place. Everyone deserves to be safe on our roads, whether they choose to ride a bike, drive a car or walk. But as it stands, our roads are failing the most vulnerable road users.

Safer bike lanes had been slated for Macaulay Road for years. They were consulted on and budgeted for by the City of Melbourne council years ago but still have not been built and, as I understand it, still have not been approved by state Labor’s transport department, who needs to sign off on them. State government and council keep passing the buck to each other about who is responsible here, but the simple fact is too many cyclists are dying, and the community just wants governments to get on with building safer infrastructure. It is not just on Macaulay Road – across the inner city, councils are often left waiting months or years for the Department of Transport and Planning to approve safer bike lanes that could save lives. This is the case right now on Queensberry Street, for example, in my electorate. We know what needs to be done. It is time to stop the delays, stop the blame-shifting and start building safe, separated bike lanes so that every person, whatever their mode of travel, can simply get home safely.