Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Roads to Recovery motion. Roads are the circulatory system of my electorate of Indi. Our wellbeing, education and prosperity depend on the network of roads that crisscross the north-east of Victoria. Examples abound. The Woolworths distribution centre at Wodonga stocks 58 outlets with over $2 billion worth of stock via the Hume Highway every year, employing over 400 people. The Tolmie TOAST carpooling initiative gives elderly residents free lifts to Mansfield for medical appointments and coffee dates. There are hundreds of school buses that trundle up dirt roads and over bridges, to collect schoolchildren each day, not to mention the humble country roads that transport our wine, dairy, beef, and fruit from the farm gate to the market and to the world. The Roads to Recovery program has funded many projects in my electorate that make this prosperity possible.

Road infrastructure is a responsibility shared by federal, state and local government, and it's a credit to all levels of government that most people rarely give roads a second thought. We see some remarkable things when governments work together. Last Saturday when I hosted Minister Littleproud, for a visit to bushfire affected communities, we travelled down the Shelley-Walwa Road, recently reopened after a $7.6 million resealing project jointly funded by the federal and state governments, Towong Shire, and HVP Plantations. This newly surfaced road will benefit local industries and the jobs that depend on it.

Although it's a shared responsibility, local governments shoulder the load. And it's the local governments of Indi that have told me in no uncertain terms that climate change and the obvious impact of bushfire risks mean we need to evaluate our investment in road infrastructure. The recent—

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