Thursday, 13 August 2026

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:54): (2513) An elected Liberal and Nationals government will invest $5 billion into repairing and rebuilding Victoria’s roads. We will eliminate 1 million potholes and re-establish a proper planned system of preventative road maintenance. When Ben Carroll was the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, he cut the budget for road maintenance by $214 million, really paving the way for the disasters of our roads today. On Monday about 30 vehicles suffered pothole damage in Bunyip on the Princes Highway, just near Hope Street. About 15 kilometres after, there were cars pulled over to the side with damaged rims. Somebody said, ‘This highway has just fallen apart.’ My colleague Wayne Farnham has raised this particular area of road in the other place many times. My question for the Premier is: you were the one that cut the road maintenance funding. Why should the people of Eastern Victoria Region trust you to fix it?