Western Victoria Region
Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (12:50): (430) My question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. In 2018 the St Patrick’s Day fires swept through part of my Western Victoria electorate, caused by electrical elements and out-of-control roadside vegetation. The aftermath of no clean up and burnt timber, resulting in a forest of blackwoods, bracken and blackberry vegetation, is a new bushfire waiting to happen along highway 1, the Princes Highway, at Garvoc. The same risk exists at that location trackside on the Warrnambool line. Perhaps the minister needs to do a deal with the new Minister for Transport Infrastructure and fix it all at once, or does the Treasurer’s blindsiding of the Premier yesterday show that level of cooperation between colleagues is fantasy in this new Labor government? Regardless I ask: what action is the minister taking to remove this extensive fire hazard before it all goes up in smoke again?