Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Martha HAYLETT (Ripon) (10:33): I rise to give the firm commitment that VicRoads is staying in Maryborough with full services. The agreement negotiated between VicRoads and the Central Goldfields shire is for five years, with options for extension beyond this. It has come to my attention that the Liberals in the upper house have been misleading the Maryborough community about the future of our VicRoads agency in town. Joe McCracken stated on record that I told residents, when asked how long the VicRoads service agreement runs for, ‘How long is a piece of string?’ This is a blatant lie. I never said that, and Joe should be ashamed of himself for lying to my community in this way. This is coming from a guy who foreshadowed the coalition will cut government services if they win the next election.

Those opposite only find Maryborough on a map when an election is near or when they want to close our train line, cut funding to our hospital or close our schools. I am proud to represent Maryborough in this Parliament, and I have fought every single day for the last three years to deliver for Maryborough families. As the local MP I am proud to have delivered for our community, including a redeveloped Maryborough Hospital, more funding for our schools, major sports upgrades and more train services, and I will always fight to protect essential services for regional Victoria.