Thursday, 30 July 2026

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:11): (2650) My adjournment debate is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I seek is that the minister direct her department to urgently repair and resurface the Princes Highway at Panmure and to review the intervention standards and compensation processes that leave motorists paying for damage caused by roads the state has failed to maintain. On the evening of 19 September last year a constituent of mine from Waurn Ponds was driving on the Princes Highway just east of Panmure. It was dark and wet, and he struck a series of large potholes. The damage to his vehicle came to approximately $44,000, and the car was off the road for the next nine months. My constituent did things by the book. He lodged a compensation claim in October 2025. It took eight months for the department to confirm the claim would even be assessed. In July he was told nobody was liable because the road authority had complied with the legislation. Notably, the department did not deny the potholes were there or that they caused the damage. This week he was advised that a pothole must exceed 300 millimetres in diameter and 100 millimetres in depth before repairs are required. On a highway that is not a pothole, it is a crater. This section of road is supposed to be inspected weekly. Mr Castle photographed the hazards on 19 and 26 July and reported them on 22 and 27 July. Twice he was assured a crew would be sent. The potholes remain.

I note that Ms Terpstra told the house yesterday that residents in one Banyule street are quite happy to have their road full of potholes because they keep the traffic away. I can assure the minister that no such enthusiasm exists in Panmure. Nobody in Western Victoria is campaigning to save their potholes. I would like to be constructive rather than unreasonable. It is true that country Victorians do not expect perfection. What they do expect, however, is a highway that does not wreck their vehicles, an inspection regime that leads to actual repairs and a claims process that responds in weeks, not eight months. So I ask the minister to fix this stretch of the Princes Highway and to make sure the system protects road users, not just her department.