Western Victoria Region
Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (12:46): (279) My question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and it relates to the poor state of roads, particularly around Ballarat. I ask the minister: will you release the maintenance schedule for Ballarat and surrounding state roads? I spoke to a constituent just recently, Hayden, who detailed a shocking experience he had on a road coming to Ballarat from Smythesdale. Hayden hit a pothole near a bridge, and the pothole was so warped that it almost acted like a launching pad and launched him onto the other side of the road. He had his young daughter in the car as well. Luckily there were no vehicles coming the other way and he avoided any collision with oncoming traffic; however, he did do damage to his vehicle. Hayden’s experience is not uncommon. Poor roads do have real consequences for regional Victorians, and a lack of maintenance can cause a fatality. I hope that nothing like this ever happens in the future, but we need to be aware that these sorts of things really have consequences.