THE Allan Government remains delusional about the state of our crumbling roads.
Treasurer Tim Pallas has his head in the sand as potholes and go-slow zones continue to wreak havoc in regional Victoria.
Rightly so, roads were a hot topic as Mr Pallas fronted a Public Accounts and Estimates Hearing designed to get the truth amid myriad numbers in the budget papers.
In damage control, Mr Pallas declared: “In the previous budget we showed a very substantial and ongoing effort that will be followed up over 10 years year-on-year.
“In this budget we put in substantially more effort.”
Substantial and ongoing effort? Spare me.
Fact is, road maintenance funding in this budget is 16 per cent lower than it was in 2020.
The real cost of repairs has soared, our roads have never been worse and Labor needs to get a hurry on.
The effort is not substantial. It’s lame.
The Nationals pledged to allocate $1 billion a year on road maintenance. That is real effort.
Labor pledged only less than $700 million.
Labor can’t manage money, and regional Victorians are paying the price.
Peter Walsh
Member for Murray Plains
Leader of The Nationals
