Worst roads named
THE Nationals’ list of top 10 worst roads as voted by Victorians gained significant attention across the state last week.
The campaign to find the state’s most notorious stretch of road received more than 2000 responses, with the Great Alpine Road crowned the worst of them all.
Declaring which is the worst road is a great way to start an argument. But the votes lodged sent a clear message – the days of bitumen Bandaids are over.
Victorians have spoken and they’re pleading that someone listen and deliver the safer roads they need – and deserve.
The state of our regional network is abysmal and it’s the inevitable outcome of cut after cut to the road maintenance budget.
Last year, $191 million was stripped from vital regional infrastructure maintenance and a further $24 million this year.
That’s after Labor axed the Country Roads and Bridges program.
Labor has been in government 19 of the past 23 years and it is leaving Victorians a legacy of hazardous roads.
An elected Liberals and Nationals government will deliver the nation’s first Regional Infrastructure Funding Guarantee with 25 per cent of new infrastructure spending dedicated to regional Victoria – matching our share of population, and up from Labor’s current 13 per cent.
The patchwork strategy of cheap repairs that rarely last beyond the next heavy rain won’t fix Victoria’s crumbling road system.
Only a change in government can deliver that.
Danny O’Brien
Shadow Minister for Public Transport and Roads
Check your pool
ROYAL Life Saving Society is asking all owners of backyard pools to check their pool fences and pool gates as a matter of urgency.
Children under five are curious and fearless, and their love of water puts them at risk of drowning.
Tragically, every year in Australia we lose on average 22 young children to drowning, more than half of those drowning in backyard swimming pools. The majority are aged just one year old.
We know that seven times the number of children who die go to hospital after a non-fatal drowning incident. That is more than 150 children aged under five each year, some of whom will be left with life-limiting disabilities.
While active supervision is the best protection against childhood drowning, no parent or caregiver can watch a young child 24 hours a day.
Ensure that you have a functioning and compliant pool fence and working gate as an additional barrier between young children and water for all those moments when life intervenes – the phone rings, the doorbell rings, another child needs your attention – can literally be life-saving.
You can download a free home pool safety checklist at www.royallifesaving.com.au/about/campaigns-and-programs/keep-watch.
This year, we’ve all experienced a lot more wet weather than usual. The La Niña conditions can wash away topsoil and weaken fences.
Check no fence posts have come loose from the ground. Make sure the gate is still self-closing and self-latching. Pack pool toys away so they are not an overwhelming temptation. It is also a good time to brush up on CPR ahead of summer.
By spending a bit of time checking the pool fence, pool gate and the area around the pool is secure, including no furniture or structures that little people can climb to access the pool, you could prevent a tragedy this summer.
Keep Watch and protect the littlest members of your family.
Justin Scarr
Chief executive officer
Royal Life Saving Society – Australia
