Thursday, 13 November 2025

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (19:36): (2116) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action that I seek is for the minister to show compassion for Victorians by ordering Transport Victoria to pay compensation for damage caused to vehicles by the atrocious condition of Victorian roads, and particularly to my constituent, whose story I will outline. One of my constituents was driving home from Melbourne towards Kialla on 3 August this year when he hit a series of large potholes on the Goulburn Valley Highway between Nagambie-Locksley Road and Racecourse Road. There were numerous potholes along that stretch but no warning signs about the hazardous road conditions. The impact of hitting the potholes caused significant damage to his wheels, rims and tyres, leaving the car undrivable and requiring it to be towed to the nearest service centre. Thankfully no-one was injured, but the incident was a major inconvenience, and the cost of the repairs totalled $8372. My constituent lodged an insurance claim and also submitted a notice of incident and claim for compensation to Transport Victoria, as well as clear photographic evidence. Two and a half months later he received an email from Transport Victoria denying any liability and refusing his claim. This is outrageous and completely unacceptable.

The atrocious condition of Victoria’s rural roads is a direct result of two decades of Labor neglect of rural and regional roads. Labor spends billions and billions of dollars on cost blowouts and Big Build projects but will not invest in properly maintaining rural and regional roads. The Allan Labor government is responsible for allowing Victorian roads to fall into a state of disrepair. It is liable for the damage caused to my constituent’s car by potholes, and it should pay compensation for that damage.

The email he received from Transport Victoria denying his claim said that the Goulburn Valley Highway was inspected twice in the weeks before the incident and no hazards were found. But when he originally rang VicRoads to complain about this section of road, VicRoads said they had received numerous other reports of potholes along that stretch. I drive the GV highway multiple times a week myself, and I know how bad the road is and how many sections have dangerous potholes. I viewed the photographs of the road taken by my constituent on the night, and I cannot believe the stretch was correctly inspected and no hazards found, because the photographs clearly show large and deep potholes, yet Transport Victoria continues to deny the claim. A few days later my constituent noticed that those potholes had already been repaired, proving that the defect existed and was significant enough to require urgent attention.

I will forward the constituent’s details, correspondence and photographs to the minister and ask that she order compensation to be paid. The minister must take responsibility for the horrendous condition of our roads, accept liability for the damage done to cars and pay fair compensation. Regional Victorians deserve better.