Thursday, 19 March 2026

 Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (17:05): (1601) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I seek is for the safety issues at the Birchip five-ways intersection to be addressed. Deputy Speaker, I do not know that you would know Birchip very well, but the five-ways intersection there has proven to be quite dangerous, and there have been a number of accidents there over the last 12 months, and going further back than that. Yes, it is a country road, but it serves the communities of Corack, Birchip, Donald and Charlton. It is quite unsafe and hard to navigate. If you are not a local, it would be a hard-to-navigate type of intersection. It is a main thoroughfare for a lot of grain trucks, in particular; fuel trucks, when they can get them; and local families as well. It is dangerous. There was an accident there recently. The Birchip Development Group have contacted me on a number of occasions. They would love an update on whether there is a plan to reconstruct it. They are of the opinion that a small roundabout – because trucks do not like big ones – might be the best way to clear that up, or a reconstruction altogether, turning it into a crossroad. There is a pub on the corner, though, and we do not want to see that pub in any way interrupted in its business, because it is a wonderful establishment. But the five-ways intersection is in desperate need of a reconstruction or at least the planning for one.

While we are talking about Birchip roads, I drove the Birchip-Sea Lake Road the other day and then the Birchip-Rainbow Road. I wear a Garmin and even though I had not been up any stairs or any hills, because there are not many of those in the Mallee, I did manage to get my 10 floors of climbing stairs whilst driving the Birchip-Sea Lake Road and the Birchip-Rainbow Road, so that probably needs addressing as well, whilst we are in the process of addressing the issues at the Birchip five-ways intersection.