News

Roads | February 15, 2021

Labor’s paltry road works program for Lowan

The Nationals Member for Lowan Emma Kealy is outraged that the Andrews Labor Government only plans to upgrade a miniscule portion of roads in the Lowan electorate in the next six months.

Ms Kealy raised the issue in Parliament after the release of the 2020-21 budget papers where the only road nominated in Lowan for an upgrade was the Henty Highway between Horsham and Lascelles.

The Minister for Roads and Road Safety has formally responded to Ms Kealy’s question, advising that 97km of pavement resurfacing and 11km of pavement reconstruction works will be undertaken.

Ms Kealy said this was a drop in the ocean for an electorate spanning 39,182 square kilometres.

“The condition of roads continues to be one of the biggest issues in Lowan,” she said.

“It is incomprehensible that the Andrews Labor Government is only planning on undertaking two projects totalling 108km in Lowan this year when there are dozens and dozens of roads in desperate need of repair.

“Once again Labor is showing its total lack of interest in investing in infrastructure projects outside of Melbourne.”

A Victorian Auditor General’s report on maintaining state-controlled roadways shows more than a third of Victoria’s 200,000 kilometres of state roads are in the western and south western regions.

Ms Kealy said it was about time the government got serious about ensuring these roads were safe and well-maintained.

“The recent harvest and resulting increase in large grain trucks using the roads over the past few months has put a lot of additional pressure on road shoulders and crumbling road edges,” she said.

“It is nothing short of insulting that our roads are continuing to deteriorate, and Labor has no plans to address the safety issues this poses for local residents and visitors to our area.

“I have written to the minister many times regarding the dangerous condition of roads throughout the Lowan electorate, but we are just not on Labor’s radar.

“The Minister for Roads must immediately provide the funding necessary to fix our crumbling country road network to save lives and give local residents the roads they are entitled to and deserve.”