Russell Broadbent (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, Dandenong has its issues, but it still has a very strong rate base. But it also has its problems with expenditure on social issues and other reasonable issues. But basically all the councils are quite wealthy, whereas all the councils in regional Victoria or outer Melbourne are struggling with two things. One is enormous growth in the outer suburban areas and the huge need for infrastructure to follow that program. The other is that they don't have the rate base that the city councils have. It's my view that none of this money should be spent on roads that have been in existence for many years and for which there have been enormous upgrades of the infrastructure around the city driven on by the state and local governments. One hundred per cent of this money should be going to the problems that the member for Indi just outlined on the Black Spur. Order.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:46 to 18:00

Stop the press, call out the cavalry, do what needs to be done: this money from Roads to Recovery and other funds are spent regional areas, but there should be a predominance. The member who brought this motion to the table talked about only 50 per cent of this money being actually allocated to regional and country areas. All of this money should be going to regional and country areas. The deaths described by the member for Indi, the deaths described by the member who spoke first and the deaths that happen in our own constituencies are issues that affect country people in a much greater way than they ever affect metropolitan people. The metropolitan councils also have the benefit, as they pay for their roads and as they develop these given areas, that the safety aspects are in these new roads. These regional roads are old roads that need the coverage of this Black Spot Program. I'm calling on all of us now to consider that our regional friends and our regional colleagues—the people who live in the regions, outside of the cities—need to be protected in exactly the same way in which we're doing our best for those who are in drought affected areas.

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