Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (19:19): (2196) My adjournment is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety too.

Michael Galea interjected.

Bev McARTHUR: But I have got some real action that I seek, not that poxy performance that you have just given us. The action that I seek is that the minister join me in meeting with the Mansfield Shire Council to discuss and address their road network issues. I spend a significant amount of time calling out ministers who ignore the requests of local government. This time I am following up on several written requests from the mayor and CEO of Mansfield shire, dated 25 June 2024, 20 March 2024, 25 July 2025 and 3 September 2025. Disgracefully, these requests have either been ignored or have received dismissive and unhelpful responses from the minister or her department.

On the road maintenance front, Mansfield shire has identified state government roads in a dangerous condition. Critical roundabouts are also needed on Mount Buller Road and Highton Lane, Midland Highway and Dead Horse Lane, and Greenvale Lane and Mount Buller Road. Sadly, Department of Transport and Planning responses have been nothing short of hopeless. In one letter they referenced works on roads that are not even in the Mansfield shire, and in a subsequent letter they only committed to considering short-term fixes rather than permanent ones. Mansfield shire does not even feature on DTP’s 2025–26 maintenance schedule, which indicates there will not be any substantive works till late next year.

Alongside Mayor Rabie and Cr Clark, I have stood near the intersection of Mansfield-Whitfield Road and Dead Horse Lane. I can tell you that it looks more like the surface of the moon than a road in a developed country like ours. There are potholes all over, and if action is not taken you will have more than a dead horse, you will have vehicle write-offs and potentially casualties. Mansfield shire has applied for funding through the federal black spot program to install a $2 million roundabout at this intersection. The funding has been granted by the Commonwealth, but for the roundabout to be installed the speed limit must simply be reduced to 60 kilometres an hour. Sadly, this commonsense request has been entirely ignored by the department. Recently Mayor Rabie was forced to pen an open letter detailing these failures to ensure that ratepayers were made aware of the Allan Labor government’s complete disregard for road maintenance and safety. On Facebook Mansfield’s post about the mayor’s letter received significant engagement. One person predicted that someone will have an accident just trying to avoid the huge potholes. Minister, stop ignoring Mansfield and get the roads fixed.