NORTHERN Victorian roads were among the most dangerous in the state, Mallee MP Anne Webster told Federal Parliament on Monday.
Dr Webster said the Government had done done little to improve local roads.
“In fact, I would say it has done nothing to improve the safety of those who drive in my electorate of Mallee,” she said.
“Pick a highway or pick any road—the Calder Highway, Sunraysia Highway, Robinvale-Sea Lake Road, Henty Highway, Murray Valley Highway, Western Highway—they are all awful.
“I regularly drive the length and breadth of my electorate and see firsthand the state of roads that constituents are forced to use every day. 
“The state of the roads beggars belief. There are sections of road in Mallee where the potholes are huge, and the bitumen is hanging on for dear life. I have even had a constituent tell me he toots his horn when approaching potholes to ensure there’s not a mob of sheep in there.”
Dr Webster said local drivers had been “compromised by the Victorian Government’s poor management of regional road repairs”. 
“According to the departmental documents, there has been a 95 per cent reduction in essential road maintenance between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 from nine million square kilometres to 422,000 square kilometres. I mean, seriously? Motorists in regional Victoria have been left to navigate a network of pothole-plagued roads that are not fit for use,” she said.
“RACV’s 2024 My Country Road survey shows that potholes and poor road condition are the biggest safety issues on regional roads across the state, with improving road surfaces a top priority. This issue is of immense concern to regional Victorians—like those who live in Mallee—as illustrated by the 75 per cent increase in responses to this year’s survey alone and the finding that while dangerous driver behaviour was the top issue in 2021, now it’s poor road conditions, which was rated as more than twice as important.
“The findings of the Victorian state government’s survey reinforce this fact, finding that 91 per cent of roads were in poor or very poor condition. 
“The auditor-general investigated the $2.2 billion dollars the Albanese government had no hesitation in giving to the Andrews-Allan Victorian Labor government’s pet Suburban Rail Loop project, which has blown out from an initial $50 billion to—if you don’t mind—$216 billion, at last count. 
“The auditor-general said, in September: As at June 2024, SRL East had yet to go through the formal project approval process, and the department is awaiting a project proposal report from the Victorian Government. 
“This process must occur before funding can be expended.”