Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Community Safety, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Wannon for putting this motion up. It's so sad that basic road maintenance in Victoria can't be completed on time. There are potholes everywhere. It all goes back to the way the Albanese Labor government is mismanaging so many things, particularly road funding projects. I can give some perfect examples. We have the Dandenong Ranges, which covers Casey and La Trobe. And places like Cockatoo, Gembrook and Emerald are in very dangerous situations when it comes to bushfires. There aren't many ways to get out of those places. The main way out is using the Wellington Road. So, in 2008, when I was first elected, we put funding into putting overtaking lanes on that road. Sadly, the Yarra Ranges Council decided the overtaking lanes would be deferred. The reason they were so important was that, if there was a bushfire, people needed space to get out of the hills. Sadly, I lost my seat in 2010. The very last thing I did, though, was write to the transport minister, Anthony Albanese, and pleaded with him, 'Do not divert the funding.' As soon as the Labor government came in, the funding was diverted. Going forward into the future to 2018, we recommitted the funding of $100 million to that project to duplicate lanes. What happened again? Labor got into power, scrapped the funding and deferred it. Wellington Road is such a dangerous road. There have been so many serious accidents there and a number of fatalities, and the funding is being diverted.

When it came to another project we had, the sealing of the Dandenong Ranges, $300 million was committed for the Yarra Ranges Council and Cardinia Shire Council. Again, when it comes to bushfires, if people need to get off and it's smoky and dangerous, people who live in areas in the city might not realise that the curbs on the side may be half a metre deep. If a car goes into that, they're not going to get out, and it's going to jam up the traffic. Again, the Albanese Labor government cancelled all those projects, so Cardinia Council and Yarra Ranges Council are absolutely furious.

I'd like to tell you about the waste of funding regarding the Clyde Road upgrade which is going on at the moment. Five years ago, the Liberal government committed to an upgrade there. When we got Casey council road engineers to give us the cost, it was $70 million. Then the state Labor government said, 'Take it or leave it—$250 million.' Obviously they had to look after their mates in the CFMEU, but we're talking about a 900-metre section of road from the train line going over the Monash Freeway that has now blown out to $250 million. For every one metre, it's $250,000 just to duplicate it. Admittedly, there are extra costs when it comes to the on-off ramps and also going over the Monash Freeway, but the price is so much higher than what the engineers at Casey actually submitted.

Then we've got the same when it comes to the Pakenham roads upgrade. The Liberal government got funding for Racecourse Road and McGregor Road. This was a project in the vicinity of $100 million. Now that's blown up to $400 million. It was again take it or leave it.

If people want to know how bad the roads are in Victoria and why, it's because there's been a 90 per cent reduction of road funding repairs by the Allan Labor government. Sadly, when it comes to the Albanese Labor government, it has been diverting good road projects and not investing in local councils to actually keep the maintenance of roads, whether it be in electorates like mine or the member for Wannon's. That's why the member for Wannon, like me and the member for Casey—those outer suburban electorates—and the member for Flinders, considers road funding to be so important, and the Albanese Labor government has completely failed.

See this speech in context