PARLIAMENT is back for the first sitting week of the year and The Nationals return with a long hitlist of issues.
We’ve been waiting for the opportunity to again highlight a brutal reality – Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage projects and can’t deliver for regional Victorians.
The problems mount, and Premier Jacinta Allan has done nothing to ease the pain since taking the helm in late September last year.
The deplorable state of our roads is a glaring testament to Labor’s financial irresponsibility.
A staggering 45 per cent cut in the road maintenance budget since 2020 has left our roads in disrepair, posing a serious threat to the safety and wellbeing of all Victorians, as seen with the notable increase in fatalities on our roads recently.
Last year, only 25km of roadside grading across the 23,000km of state-controlled roads was completed.
The health-care sector is also grappling with dangerously prolonged waiting times for critical health services.
Victoria’s elective surgery wait list has increased to more than 67,000 patients, with the average overdue wait time for category 3 patients rising to 335 days, compared to 281 days a year ago.
Meanwhile, the housing crisis has spiralled out of control under Premier Allan’s leadership, evident with more than 50,000 applicants on the social housing waitlist.
While the transfer housing wait list leaves 9373 applicants in limbo, almost 6000 meet the criteria for a priority transfer.
Yet Labor has abandoned some of the most vulnerable individuals due to its lack of investment. The most recent case being a vision-impaired man stranded without the basic necessity of an appropriate home.
The Allan government consistently falls short of its responsibilities and needs to be held accountable for its inability to deliver for Victorians.
Peter Walsh
Member for Murray Plains
Leader of The Nationals
