Fix Gippsland roads, save country lives
THE Andrews Labor Government has no excuse to continue its neglect of crumbling and dangerous roads in regional Victoria after the windfall $9.7 billion lease of the Port of Melbourne.
Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath said negotiations by the Liberal-Nationals secured 10 per cent of the Port funds for regional transport infrastructure.
“With the final price tag nearly $4 billion more than expected there is no excuse for Labor to ignore the terrible state of our country roads any longer,” Ms Bath said.
The Nationals’ Gippsland South MLA Danny O’Brien said the leasing of the port would deliver $970 million for road and rail upgrades in the state’s regions.
“The Nationals fought hard to ensure that regional areas like Gippsland would benefit from the leasing of this asset and refused to support the legislation until at least 10 percent of the lease proceeds was guaranteed for the regions,” he said.
“This means that Melbourne Labor now has the money and absolutely no excuse not to fully fund projects that will deliver better rail services and roads for those in Gippsland and make it safer and more efficient to get from school, home and work.”
Ms Bath has now set up a page on her website calling on the community to help report local road surface hazards to highlight the urgent need for more investment into country roads.
“By reporting road hazards directly to VicRoads we can give them the evidence they need to demand additional state funding to better manage and maintain our roads,” she said.
“I believe we can and must make a real difference to achieve safer roads for our region.”
Ms Bath said potholes, uneven surfacing and hidden hazards littered regional and rural roads, slowing travel and increasing the risk to country drivers and their passengers every day.
“Under Labor, potholes and dangerously uneven road surfaces are just a part of everyday travel – but it shouldn’t be,” she said.
A new campaign from the Liberal-Nationals Coalition will collate a list of the worst of our country road network to present to the Victorian Government.
Motorists are asked to send in photos of road hazards and list the location and how long the road has been in need of repair.
“Daniel Andrews was happy to spend $1.1 billion not building the East West link in Melbourne, meanwhile, the roads in country Victoria are crumbling with neglect,” Ms Bath said.
Please send images to [email protected] and sign the online petition at www.melinabath.com.au/report_a_road_hazard
Crumbling: Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath inspects the poor state of the Meeniyan – Promontory Road which is a main tourist road also used by local transport.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Oct 4 2016. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
