Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (19:09): (1503) My adjournment this evening is for the minister for public transport, and the action I seek from the minister is for the immediate installation of train warning systems and whatever is most appropriate at the Urches Road train crossing and the Reddies Road train crossing. This month two young men, Jack McGee and Chris Hewitt, had their lives tragically taken from them and their community and their families, with an unmarked level crossing just to the south of the Cressy township.

This road is in poor condition. This road is an alternative shortcut that many, many people take, linking the Ballarat and Colac roads. It comes on top of the tragic accident in 2017, where a young mother heading home to her family was killed at an adjacent level crossing, also unmarked and unclear. The community has asked me to immediately bring this to the minister’s attention because tragedies like this are dealt with by the community. The local CFA are the first on guard – local farmers, often – and now with three local people killed at these two crossings that are quite close to each other, it takes a huge toll. As we have discussed many times in this Parliament in this past week, it has been a summer of many tragedies right across Victoria, falling onto the hearts and souls and minds of those hardworking volunteers in communities. So the Cressy CFA has asked me to bring this urgent action to the attention of the minister and plead with her to find the resources to immediately make these crossings safer. The community of Cressy really does not have it within itself to have to make good and prepare for the tragedy of another local, should it be taken with this train.

The main line that runs through here is not a main passenger service; it is an interstate freight train. They are big, heavy trains that take nearly 800 metres to stop. It is a very dangerous crossing, and unfortunately, particularly with this Reddies Road crossing where the most recent tragedy was, Google Maps now shows that as a preferred route, and the local CFA are very concerned about this because more and more traffic is appearing on what is an unmade gravel road. It is dangerous; it is in a very open, flat area where motorists going along at legal speeds are just completely unaware of the potential catastrophe caused by these large and long interstate freight trains. So I ask the minister to take this urgent request.