Wednesday, 23 September 2026

 Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (20:25): (2833) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I seek is for the minister to explain to my constituents when the government will be accountable for the dismal state of our roads and start paying compensation for damaged vehicles, medical expenses and loss of work due to pothole accidents. Constituents in Northern Victoria are frustrated and angry at the state of the roads in their region. They are sick to death of having to foot the bill for damaged roads this government has neglected for the last 12 years, putting their lives and vehicles at risk while simply going about their daily travel. Unlike their metro counterparts, regional Victorians cannot just leave their cars at home and take public transport to get to work, school, appointments or just life. Regional roads are our lifeblood. FOI data received by the Herald Sun in August this year covering the 2024–25 and 2025–26 financial years reports that 1809 claims were made for vehicle damage due to potholes and damaged roads. 1786 of those were rejected, which means just 23 motorists were paid compensation. In May this year, Department of Transport and Planning secretary Jeroen Weimar told the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee that to that point in the 2025–26 financial year, 592 claims had been made and assessed but only 13 were successful in receiving compensation. That is 579 motorists who were left footing the bill for mismanagement of the road network by this government.

During a cost-of-living crisis, when some families are struggling to keep the lights on or put food on the table, being left to pay for repairs for damage that occurred through no fault of their own could quite literally leave some people on the brink of collapse. Between January and July this year we saw a rise in reports of potholes and damaged road surfaces by 31 per cent from the same time last year. In July we saw both the Goulburn Valley Highway and the Hume Highway fall into such disrepair that over an 11-day period the RACV reportedly attended 49 tyre- and wheel-related breakdowns. We saw video footage of lines of cars pulled up on the side of the highway, broken down, and drivers in distress.

This is not good enough. Compensation for damaged vehicles, medical expenses and loss of work due to damage caused by the abysmal state of our roads should be easily accessible and quickly paid. The government should take ownership of their failing road network and bear the costs, not the motorists.