Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the importance of the Black Spot Road Safety Program, which has been delivering funding continuously since 1996 to reduce the risk of road crashes;

(2) notes that half of all road crashes are on local government roads, and these crashes account for 52 per cent of all casualties and 40 per cent of all road deaths;

(3) recognises that local government is responsible for around 77 per cent of the road network but only collects around 3.5 per cent of the total tax revenue raised by governments in Australia, and as such is heavily reliant on road funding from other levels of government;

(4) further notes that:

(a) two thirds of all road fatalities occur on regional roads; and

(b) the Black Spot Road Safety Program intention is to allocate funding on a half-half basis between urban and rural roads;

(5) further acknowledges that not all councils, in particular rural and regional councils with lower rate bases, have the resources necessary to make applications that meet criteria for the Black Spot Road Safety Program; and

(6) calls on the Government to amend the Black Spot Road Safety Program guidelines to make it easier for the local Government sector to access that fund.

I brought this private members' motion to the attention of this place because I want to highlight a number of things. I want to acknowledge the importance of the blackspot road safety program, which is a program that dates back to the very beginning of the Howard era in 1996. It has run continuously since then to reduce the risk of road crashes. I want to highlight the important role that local government has in managing our road network. Some 77 per cent of the road network is managed by the local government sector. I want to highlight that many of those local governments are small in size, so, while two-thirds of all fatalities occur on rural roads, many of these councils simply don't have the resources to make very detailed and involved applications for funding under the Black Spot Program. And I call on the government to consider amending program guidelines to make it easier.

The National Road Safety Strategy sets an ambitious but necessary task for Australians to reduce deaths on our roads by 50 per cent by 2026 and serious injuries by 30 per cent by the same date. Given that target, obviously investment in road safety programs is a priority. That's why governments continuously, from 1996, have invested heavily via the Black Spot Program. Indeed, this government notionally is investing $120.1 million, which has been allocated across the 2023-24 Black Spot Program nationwide, because, of course, we can't simply talk about reducing this death toll—we've actually got to do something about it.

When I say 'notionally invest in', I have to point out to this place that announcements have been made around the South Australian elements of the program, the Tasmanian elements of the program and the Victorian elements of the program to date. We're waiting on other announcements, but, if I just take Victoria, notionally there was $25.6 million allocated, but—would you believe it!—there was an underspend of $5.5 million. In South Australia, the notional allocation was $.5 million and the underspend was $2.9 million. In Tasmania, they recently announced a budget allocation of $3.1 million with an underspend of a touch over half a million dollars. So, in circumstances where we're seeing road deaths increasing disproportionately and, indeed, are well above not only historical numbers but also the trajectory that would get us to the 50 per cent reduction, you'd have to start asking yourself the question: Why?

Why have there been such significant underspends in this important program? Could it be that there are no infrastructure safety issues that are causing these deaths? Well, nobody would argue, I hope, that that's the case because we all know of situations that require additional road treatments. Could it be that insufficient applications have been made? Well, that could be the case, and, if that is the case, particularly from the local government sector, the feedback I'm getting is this program is just too difficult to make an application to.

The program has both proactive and reactive elements—proactively, reasonably difficult, and reactively, easier. Where there's been an accident causing death, then the criteria guidelines provide that this funding is accessible. It's where there are proactive programs where it's far more difficult. Those are situations where a road authority or a local council may well know that a section of road is dangerous but they need to undertake a road safety audit. That's expensive. That takes a long time, and you're not always successful. So what I want to see is a simplification of this program, in particular, how applications are made, so that we can get all of the funding out the door. I don't want to see significant underspends. An allocation of $31 million should see a spend of $31 million, an allocation of $8½ million should see a spend of $8½ million and an allocation of $3.1 million should see a full spend. Our road safety requires it.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to speak about the Black Spot Program, which funds safety measures—for example, traffic signals, roundabouts, barriers where serious car crashes or near misses are known to have occurred—particularly because I have the honour of chairing the blackspot committee in the Northern Territory. The Black Spot Program is a Hawke government initiative that began in 1990 and was later reintroduced by the Howard government, and I give them credit for doing that. It's one of the most important and effective federal programs for reducing crashes nationwide. One early review of the program found that, for every dollar spent on it, about $4 was generated for the Australian economy, and that's huge already, before you even consider the incalculable value of the lives that are saved by it. As of 2012, there were 1,600 blackspot projects around Australia, each preventing, on average, 1.7 car crashes. Even with a conservative estimate of two people involved in each car crash, that is over 5,000 people saved from grave injury or death across these projects. This program is central to the Australian government's commitment to building safer roads, as we work towards our vision of having no deaths at all on our roads by 2050. That's the ambition. I'm very proud that our Labor government has committed $110 million per year to the Black Spot Program, working with state, territory and local governments to improve road safety across our nation.

I was particularly pleased that the Territory received $2.4 million under the Black Spot Program for this financial year. Territory roads, as you would know, Deputy Speaker Sharkie, are spread over a massive area—1.3 million square kilometres—and about three-quarters of our 36,000 kilometres of roads are unsealed. Our geography and our climate extremes make it even more important to construct safe and resilient roads. I value the contribution by the member for Barker, who moved this motion, to our current inquiry into improving road resilience. The fact is that the Territory remains the most dangerous place in Australia to be on a road, with 475 people killed and 4,242 people seriously injured on our roads in the 10 years from 2006 until 2016. Just last year we lost 52 lives. Scores of families were absolutely shattered. Of course, one road death is too many, and our goal remains zero. That's why the nine blackspot projects across the Northern Territory are so welcome, making an important contribution towards reducing serious injuries and deaths on our local roads. They build on previous investments in the Territory, and these include $144 million in funding to the Northern Territory as part of the Australian government's $3 billion national road safety program.

In Darwin, which is the place I've represented with Palmerston, the blackspot projects include a roundabout to reduce vehicle speeds in Fannie Bay, as well as a left turn lane on the corner of Amy Johnson Avenue and Boulter Road in Berrimah. Those watching will know exactly where that is. And in Palmerston we are investing in intersection delineation, reducing lane width and three school zone crossings on Emery Avenue to keep families, kids, students and parents safe around Bakewell Primary School.

As I said, I welcome the member for Barker's motion which acknowledges the absolute importance of this program. It's crucial that this and other road safety programs remain bipartisan and are strongly supported. I want to acknowledge that local governments are very important in this area, given that they're responsible for 77 per cent of our road network, and I note that they can seek funding under the black spot road safety program. We should always continue to work to make sure that programs such as this are as user friendly as possible so that we can get the best results out of them. I encourage those that are involved in road safety to continue to look for all those opportunities.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to congratulate the member for Barker for moving what I think is a very important motion in the Chamber today. Those of us who live in rural and regional communities understand that a disproportionate number of our people, our constituents, our family and friends are killed or injured on our roads every year. You'll notice that, in my contribution tonight, I won't use the words 'road toll' because the word 'toll' suggests there's a price we have to pay, or are willing to pay, for road safety. I don't accept that more than 1,200 Australians have to die on our roads every year.

When you think about this issue and the ripple effect of just one road crash, the impact it has on our communities is quite staggering. Obviously, there is the direct impact on the individuals in the vehicle—or vehicles—involved, whether they're killed or injured. It has a dramatic effect on them. But, then, the ripple goes out to their family and friends. The ripple goes out even further to the first responders, many of whom suffer PTSD for the rest of their lives from having dealt with motor vehicle accidents. Then it flows onto the health workers in the hospitals and to the long-term recovery that goes on. That's all from one road crash. I simply don't accept that that ripple effect—that trauma—is something that we have to accept going into the future. So I do congratulate the member for Barker for his contribution here today, for highlighting one program, the Black Spot Program, which is designed to target those areas with a proven crash history and take action to remediate, to make our roads safer for all.

I'm concerned that governments—and I say 'governments' plural—across the board are not doing enough when it comes to reducing road trauma. This is an issue which is costing the Australian economy $30 billion per year and, as I said previously, more than 1,200 lives. There is a responsibility for all levels of government—local, state and federal—to work in partnership on these issues. It's just too easy, today, to always blame the drivers. We need a safe-system approach to this issue. A safe-system approach is all about safer drivers, safer cars, safer speeds and safer roads—and we don't talk about the roads enough. Right now, in my state of Victoria, my car has to be roadworthy, but the roads aren't 'car worthy'. We have potholes, roads with poor shoulders and a lack of overtaking and rest opportunities for drivers. The roads are simply not car worthy, and it's a direct result of a lack of investment, over a long period of time, in the road environment.

When we talk about this black spot funding program, it's important to recognise that it's just one of many programs which should be directed at improving the safety of the road environment for all road users. The member for Barker was right. Once you allocate a level of funding to a program—I think it's $110 million for black spots—you actually have to get the money out the door and on the ground, delivering benefits to people in those communities who need it most. I can't help but think that the level of bureaucracy we're putting in place makes it hard for local government, with their limited resources, to apply for funding and have the capacity to deliver those road improvements on the ground. So I would suggest to the bureaucrats in charge of these programs: look for ways to simplify these programs and look for ways to get the money that's been allocated out the door and on the ground, delivering road safety benefits in our communities.

The other point I'd like to make this evening is in relation to the current review which is underway into infrastructure spending in this country. The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government announced a 90-day review more than 120 days ago. In that time, projects that hadn't started construction have been delayed for another 120 days. There is not a single road project in our country that's getting cheaper by waiting.

So, while this review is going on, people are at risk of being killed and injured on our roads because we can't get the money out the door, and this is going to go on for another few months, I fear. I have projects in my electorate which were funded and announced sometimes two or three years ago. But, because you couldn't get the state government to make their 20 per cent contribution, work hadn't started before this minister announced her review process. So I call on the minister to hurry up and deliver the outcomes of this review and get the work started with the infrastructure investment pipeline projects that can deliver road safety improvements in our country.

I'll say it again: we simply can't accept that 1,200 of our fellow country men and women have to die on our roads every year. The trendline for us in Victoria right now is appalling. We've had a 23 per cent increase in road deaths this year in Victoria. It's simply not good enough, and we have to do everything we possibly can, working in partnership with local government, state government, federal government and road users themselves, to improve the safety of the road environment and reduce the traumatic impacts of these crashes. What they're doing to our communities on a daily basis is something that demands an even greater response by all levels of government.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the importance of Australia's Black Spot Program, and I thank the member for Barker for bringing this important private member's motion forward. South Australians have had a devastating 12 months, with 94 people dying on our roads. This is a 10.6 per cent increase on the previous year. In September 2022, the RAA of South Australia identified the intersection of Sturt Road and Marion Road in my electorate as the most dangerous in the state, accounting for 40 casualty crashes in the preceding five-year period. This is more than any other intersection in South Australia, exceeding even the notorious Britannia Roundabout, which you would be familiar with, Deputy Speaker Sharkie.

Thankfully, we have the Black Spot Program, targeting the road locations where crashes are occurring or are at higher risk of occurring. We know that projects delivered through Black Spot funding reduce serious crashes by an average of 30 per cent. Programs such as these are incredibly effective in the long run. They may end up saving our communities many times the cost of relatively minor road improvements that are implemented, saving them from the trauma of loss, as well as financially.

The Australian government is wholeheartedly committed to the $110 million a year Black Spot Program across the nation, and, under the Black Spot Program's 2023-24 funding round, South Australia will be receiving funding of $5.9 million and investing in 17 sites across the state. Funding under the Australian government's Black Spot Program will substantially improve 24 dangerous crash sites on South Australian roads, and I'm relieved to know that these works will mean more South Australians get home safe.

An example of one of these projects is the intersection of Marion Road and Alawoona Avenue in Mitchell Park, in my electorate. The installation of a traffic signal pole and lanterns will improve visibility of the traffic signals, and projects such as these are improving road safety in my electorate and across the state and keeping South Australians safe.

Of course, we know that the road toll doesn't end at the city limits. I personally have two friends who have both separately lost parents in crashes on country roads, and, having lived in rural South Australia for a period of time, I know the impact of crashes on emergency services, who are often volunteers from the local community, health services, who likewise live locally, and the local community at large. It's important that Black Spot funding goes to the areas where we know that there is a high road toll and high crashes. Road deaths are one of the most preventable public health issues we face, and the Black Spot initiative recognises this.

Applications for Black Spot funding are considered annually, and anyone can apply—it's a simple two-page application. I'd say to anyone listening: if you know that a local road is dangerous, I strongly encourage you to apply. It's a simple online application that can be emailed to the relevant state transport department, who will undertake the road safety audit section of the application for you. A few minutes of your time could make a huge difference in your local community, by simply putting in the time to apply for this funding.

I'm very proud to be part of a government that is wholeheartedly committed to the $110 million a year Black Spot Program and that takes road safety seriously. We will continue to fund measures right across the country that improve road safety, because we understand that these measures mean more Australians make it home to see their families. Twelve hundred road deaths a year is simply too many, and we need to do better.

Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too congratulate and recognise the member for Barker in moving this very important motion. He understands the regions.

As a former chair of the Tasmanian Black Spot Consultative Panel and, like the member for Barker, a representative of a large rural electorate, ensuring that our entire road network is maintained and fit for purpose is important to me. There were 1,187 fatalities on our nation's roads in the 12 months to the end of February—45 more than in the same period last year. In Tasmania this represented a 36.8 per cent increase in lost lives. It's a sad and confronting statistic that Tasmania has the highest road deaths per capita of any state in Australia. Another important statistic is that in Tasmania local government-owned roads comprise approximately 80 per cent of the entire road network—approximately 14,500 kilometres. Around 78 per cent of these roads, or 10,700 kilometres or thereabouts, are rural roads in rural areas. In terms of safety, these 10,700 kilometres of roads account for a disproportionate number, approximately one-third, of Tasmania's fatal and serious road accidents.

If you had the great fortune of visiting Tasmania in recent times and driven along our national highway from Hobart through to Smithton, you would have seen significant investment in two major arterial routes, the Midland and the Bass highways. Jointly funded by the federal and state governments, this investment is welcome, important and timely.

But our local roads, maintained by our local government and our local councils, are the ones I'm concerned about. They also require significant investment. This has been exacerbated in recent times by extraordinary weather events which have caused millions of dollars worth of damage to culverts and bridges and caused landslides and the like.

There is no doubt that our great local councils are committed to maintaining the roads that fall within their jurisdiction, but they're struggling to find the resources and the assets that they need. We're not comparing apples with apples when it comes to road funding as local government roads tend to have a much more diverse range of road environments to manage: from high-speed rural and remote roads with diverse services to local streets, residential shopping precincts and our local schools. Local governments also tend to have a greater mix of road users, like pedestrians and vulnerable cyclists, not to mention agricultural machinery and oversized, multi-articulated, heavy vehicles which are normally laden with produce going from farm to processing.

Although councils manage around 77 per cent of the national road network, they only collect 3.5 per cent of the total tax revenue raised by governments in Australia. In the 2023 pre-budget submission, the Australian Local Government Association called on the Albanese government to 'budget a fair increase to the Financial Assistance Grants' that local councils and local governments receive. This was in keeping with the election commitment made by the Labor government to local communities right across the nation. Regrettably, rather than increasing the Financial Assistance Grants to represent 'fair funding' in the May budget, they made cuts to this as a percentage of tax revenue. The Local Government Association of Queensland labelled it a 'clear failure' by the federal government—the Albanese government—to deliver fair funding to its rural and regional communities.

I welcome last week's announcement of the $2.57 million which has been allocated to Tasmania through the 2023-24 Black Spot Program. I welcome the benefits that 15 sites across Tasmania will receive through this investment. I particularly welcome the $550,000 investment in the electorate of Braddon and upgrades to local roads in Devonport and Kindred.

But right across our region, the state, the national and our local roads are in poor condition. They're dangerous and represent a serious risk for road safety, and it's putting a handbrake on productivity. There is inadequate funding of local places, local government areas and an unfair inequitable financial burden to local communities. I'm therefore calling on the federal government to prioritise the adequate resourcing of local councils through available avenues, including the Black Spot Program, the Financial Assistance Grants and the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program to ensure that our local road networks are maintained to a safe standard.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The black spots program—and we're talking about roads here, because sometimes people confuse it with the black spots program for mobile phone towers—as those in regional electorates know, is critical. They also know that it has been bipartisan for many years. It has existed in its current form since 1996, but we have seen a significant increase in funding flow into the program since that time.

In Victoria, my home state, from 1996-97 to 2022-23, over $360 million has gone into local roads, funding individual black spot programs. My electorate has done well. Since 2011-12, we have received close to $30 million through this program for that little intersection, where it might be $250,000 to upgrade pedestrian access around a roundabout, to major intersections like Edwards Road in Maiden Gully. I mention Edwards Road in Maiden Gully because it's receiving funding in this round of the black spots program. What I've always thought is tough to stomach when it comes to this program is that you need to have fatalities or near misses to be able to qualify. It is when we start to lose lives or are at risk of losing lives. Everybody knew that Edwards Road would be a problem from the moment they started building houses on the other side of the Calder Highway. Yet, until now, there wasn't a funding source available to fix this intersection.

Before I became a member of parliament--a decade ago--people were raising this issue with me. We need to do better in how we help local and state governments fund road infrastructure. This is not the only program that the federal government funds. There's also the Roads to Recovery funding, which is funding that goes directly to local governments to help with local roads, plus there's a Local Roads and Community Infrastructure fund. Our government has extended the funding for another year to focus on regional and rural road funding for local councils to do the work that is needed.

What's missing from this debate is a discussion about what has happened to our road network in the last decade. The impact of natural disasters has had a significant impact on our local roads. The flood event that we had in October in my electorate washed entire roads away, not just our small gravel grade roads around Axe Creek and Axedale, but VicRoads lost entire major arterials in and out of Bendigo. Every major road into town was damaged just as much small roads. Unfortunately, we're now in a situation where we're repairing roads damaged by the previous floods into this year. This is a problem that all of us face. With increased natural disasters, the roads that were repaired last summer may have to be repaired this summer. So, yes, there are lots of challenges out there, but it's also an unprecedented experience that many of our communities are having because of the impact of increasing natural disasters.

This program is a program that was, I thought, bipartisan. It was recognition that funding did need to be allocated to state government to help local government fix black spots. It was an extension and a gesture from the federal government to say, 'We are here to help you to do the work that is needed.' Yes, the process does feel a bit clunky. We, at the federal level, allocate the money to the state government to establish a panel. I got the opportunity to chair the panel in Victoria. We consider a list that's been put forward by the Victorian government. It's a panel made up of a few representatives, not just members of parliament, and then local governments put forward those projects.

The program is always oversubscribed, as there is a need for it. So there could be a future review of how we go through that process. However, even the money that you might save by looking at that process isn't going to be enough to bridge the gap. Yes, we need to have a stronger dialogue between local, state and federal governments on how we fix all our roads, but we also have to look at how we adapt to climate change and the increase of natural disasters and the impact that is having on our local infrastructure. The role of local government is important, as is state and federal, in this conversation about black spots and all road program funding.

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

I thank the member for Barker for this important motion. This motion feels particularly pertinent for me today as last Thursday four lives were tragically lost at a dangerous intersection on the Hume Freeway in Chiltern in my electorate of Indi. Ten crashes have taken place at this intersection in the last 10 years, including four serious collisions. The most recent crash has sent shock waves through the small town of Chiltern, and my thoughts are with the families of those lost, who I understand come from the member for Riverina's electorate. I pay my deepest sympathy to him and his people.

It's not just the families of those who are lost. There was the truck driver and the local emergency workers who were first responders to this horrific accident. It is so important that we make our roads safer for businesses, for individuals and for our community to get to work, to export our goods, to visit family, to go to the local pub for dinner, to get the kids to sport. Our roads are crucial for us to live our lives in rural and regional Australia, and they are critical in times of emergencies. But, with such long stretches and frequent use, sadly rural and regional roads are more likely to see fatalities and serious injuries occur from car accidents than metropolitan areas. The Australian Road Deaths Database, a national crash database, demonstrates that approximately two-thirds of road deaths occur in regional and remote areas, with one-third occurring in a major city area. These proportions have not changed over the last decade. The managing director of the Australian Automobile Association, Michael Bradley, has said, 'We need to understand the factors causing this metro-regional disparity and greater Commonwealth road safety leadership through improved data collection is the key to making this possible.'

In Indi, some rural areas have higher accident rates than others. In 2021, Murrindindi Shire Council conducted a road trauma study which found that from 2010 to 2019 they had the highest number of road fatalities compared to other small rural shires in Victoria.

Despite high road tolls, rural councils don't have a large amount of revenue to cover the cost to construct, maintain and upgrade the roads. The average income for an Indi local council is only about 16 per cent of the average income for a Melbourne local council even though our local councils are responsible for thousands more kilometres of roads and many more bridges. And, after three years of high rainfall and significant flood events which have caused extensive damage, our roads are worse than ever. In my 30-plus years of living in the electorate of Indi I have never seen our roads this bad. Bridges and culverts are completely washed away, causing lengthy detours. The potholes are bone rattling. When I'm driving across the electorate I'm on high alert for a blown tire or even a broken axle.

The work already carried out to fix the roads and all the work that still lies ahead is enormous. More than inconvenience and frustration, these terrible road conditions are dangerous. Constituents are writing to my office weekly with stories of near misses. A farmer from Glenburn called Dean contacted me over the weekend about a half-metre deep pothole on a blind bend on the Melba Highway. He said a trailer's axle snapped going over the pothole. If another car was in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could have caused a serious or fatal accident.

The Black Spot Program is a critical program to improve safety on roads where there is a history of accidents, but, like the member for Bendigo has just stated, we shouldn't have to wait till fatalities occur before we get action. Since 2014 the Black Spot Program has provided almost $6 million to Indi councils to undertake critical work to improve road safety—install safety barriers, re-mark lines for foggy conditions, seal shoulders and install flashing warning lights. I support the member for Barker's calls to make sure this program is accessible to local governments to help them make our roads safer. One way to do this is to support local councils to conduct the road safety audit that's required to apply for the program. These audits are expensive, but, as I said earlier, we need more data to identify where and why fatalities are occurring on our rural and regional roads, because without knowing that information, without getting that information right, we can't even begin to start the fix and make them safer.

We can all agree that we want to see the road toll go down to zero. Building better roads is a key part of this. The Black Spot Program is a crucial part of the puzzle. But our local governments need ongoing support from government at all levels but at the federal level on this program.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As chair of Tasmania's black spot committee, I'm very pleased to be able to speak to this motion before the House. In my time as chair of the Tasmanian committee, our panel has contributed millions of dollars to projects across Tasmania, including in the regions, to ensure that our roads are as safe as they can be.

Road accidents are like rocks in a pond. The trauma is most pronounced for those at the centre of the impact but the impacts ripple out and affect many, often for years, even tangentially. My own father died in a road accident, 10 years ago this year. I obviously still miss him and my kids miss their grandfather, who they will never know. The impacts of trauma, whether it's a death or injury, continue for many years and affect many people. Media reporting focuses on the deaths in road accidents, but lives also change for those who survive road trauma with the loss of limbs, brain function or ability to walk, or facial disfigurement. Recovery, if even possible, can take years; mental and emotional scars may never heal. It's horrifying to think of how many young lives are lost or changed because of completely avoidable behaviour: driving when drunk or drug affected, driving fast or recklessly, overtaking on a bend—the list is endless.

The Black Spot Program can't fix everything, but it can play a part and does play a part in reducing the risk that infrastructure plays in road trauma. We know that projects delivered through black spot funding reduce serious crashes by an average of 30 per cent. Sometimes the funded projects are relatively minor in scale, but the benefit to the community is significant. Perhaps there's a bend in the road that can do with a guardrail or there's an intersection that can be made safer with a roundabout or a cycle lane that can be put in. As the member for Indi has indicated, perhaps something can be done about the notorious intersection in her electorate that has now claimed four more lives.

The Black Spot Program seeks to fund projects where motor vehicle accidents are occurring or are likely to occur. I just want to address this point because I think the member for Bendigo and the member for Indi both indicated that deaths had to have occurred for a project to receive funding. I don't know what the situation is in other states. In Tasmania, my panel takes submissions from people and local governments, and considers locations where road trauma may occur, is likely to occur, or has occurred. So there are different eligibility criteria; it's not just for locations where deaths have occurred.

Myriad projects are eligible: traffic signals, roundabouts, lighting, road markings, pedestrian crossings, bike lanes and more. If it can be installed to keep road users safer, it can be considered. Most applications we get are from local councils, but anyone can nominate a black spot. Nomination forms are freely available at investment.infrastructure.gov.au, and I understand there's an app—I don't know where it is, but it's been created to make it easier as well. About half the black spot funds in most states are reserved for projects in non-metropolitan areas, in recognition of the fact that more accidents occur in the regions relative to road use populations. I know my own electorate benefits from the Black Spot Program, and the 12 councils in my electorate appreciate the opportunity to put forward projects for consideration.

In the 2023-24 Tasmanian black spots funding allocation, the consultative panel recommended funding for 15 projects across Tasmania, totalling $2½ million including, as the member for Braddon said, about half a million dollars for one of his projects. Across my electorate, five projects received funding this year: $560,000 for safety barriers on Highland Lakes Road in Bothwell, $440,000 for a right-turn lane on Blackstone Road in Blackstone Heights, $240,000 for resurfacing Nook Road in Acacia Hills, $160,000 for a safety barrier on Cethana Road in Moina, and $40,000 for safety barriers on Carlton Beach Road and Webb Street in Dodges Ferry. Given my electorate takes up half the state, that allocation sounds about right. I should note for the record that decisions were unanimous and no projects recommended to the panel were rejected in favour of those not recommended.

The Australian government provides $110 million a year for the Black Spot Program, which is delivered in partnership with the state and territory governments, which essentially administer the program. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank my colleagues on the program panel in Tasmania who volunteer their time to help me assess recommended projects and thank the officials from the state government department, the Department of State Growth, who manage the day-to-day operations. The Black Spot Program saves lives and, I'm sure, has the support of every member of the House. (Time expired)

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the outset, may I mourn your loss, Member for Lyons. I know your dad died about three years before you were elected to this place. He would be very proud of you, Brian. He would. Any loss on our roads is one too many. For the member for Lyons's father and the many hundreds of people who lose their lives on our roads every year, it is a tragedy. It is a tragedy not just for those families but for our nation. The economic loss is just massive, but the ripple effect of emotions that it causes cannot ever be understated. Nine News Sydney, X-ing today—or tweeting, if you like—said: 'Police are cracking down on reckless drivers, launching a blitz on Sydney roads after two recent crashes claimed young lives. More than 200 people have died this year on New South Wales roads, up 33 per cent from last year.'

I know for a fact that there was another police chase through the streets of Sydney today for 90 minutes. Police had to go up on kerbs to try to get them. No black spot funding is going to stop that. This is just reckless. This is just wrong, and those people—often they are young people—ought to know better. The member for Indi is right: Wagga Wagga and Lake Cargelligo are mourning the loss of four people who were killed at Chiltern just the other day. Wagga Wagga residents Trevor and Lorraine Breen and Noel and Kerry Capes lost their lives when their car and a truck collided on the Hume Highway just south of Wodonga last Thursday. Lachlan Shire Council deputy mayor Paul Phillips knew all four. He said that Trevor and Kerry were siblings. How must that family be feeling tonight? I know the community of Lake Cargelligo—tiny as it is—in the seat of Parkes is absolutely feeling the impact of that tragedy, as are Wagga Wagga and the people whose lives they played such a part in.

This motion, brought to the House by the member for Barker, speaks to the fact that black spot funding investment needs to happen. It is bipartisan. It needs to always be preserved and protected in the budget. Indeed, as the minister, I was proud to ensure that we did everything we could and that every piece of road infrastructure investment was looked at through the lens of saving lives. I messaged Brian Monaghan, the mayor of Bland Shire Council, just before I got my feet. There are 3,200 kilometres in the road network in Bland shire, 2,800 kilometres of which are unsealed. It's second only in the state to the neighbouring local government area of Lachlan, whose deputy mayor I just referenced. These are huge road networks and, sadly, because of recent weather events and all the rest, their roads are riddled with potholes. I drive around my very, very large electorate—I know other regional members do the same—and the roads are in a terrible state. They are. I'm sure they are in your electorate, too, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker Sharkie. We need to do everything we can; indeed, we need to do more. It does bother me that infrastructure projects and programs have been put on hold. We need to make sure that the investment continues, particularly, as many regional members have stated, for our country roads, because rural people and remote people are overrepresented in the road toll statistics.

I know, when it comes to these sorts of debates, that there are various notes that suggest that we're increasing the number of crashes and that the percentages increase. We need to work towards zero. That's the ultimate goal. It doesn't matter whether you are in Manangatang or Melbourne, the fact is we need to address this issue. We need to address the behaviour of people when they get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. We need to make sure that we can reduce these crashes such that we don't have any victims on our road. Again, as I said at the outset, I mourn with the member for Lyons. We need to make sure that nobody dies on our roads.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Barker for placing a motion about the blackspot road safety program on the Notice Paper. When all is said and done, we should all care about road infrastructure, keeping our roads safe and lowering the number of fatalities and injuries that occur on roads across Australia every year. That is evident by all the contributions here in this place today. And condolences to those morning their loss, including those in the members for Riverina's and Indi's electorates.

According to the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, blackspot projects reduce the number of crashes causing death and injury by roughly 30 per cent. There is a good quote within the National Road Safety Strategy which I'll heavily paraphrase: it calls on eliminating the fatalistic mindset whereby deaths and injuries on our roads are just an inevitable part of road use. We can't allow that.

The Black Spot Program itself was born during the time of the Hawke government, although it was put on ice by the Keating government. As the member for Barker pointed out, it has been continuously in place since 1996, when it was reintroduced under the Howard government.

Being a member from South Australia too, I am aware of a number of other titles and positions the member for Barker has held from time to time; however, a title that the member for Barker once held was that of the Chair of the South Australian Consultative Black Spot Panel, a position that he held under the previous government from 2016, if I'm not mistaken. The blackspot consultative panel system extends to all states and territories in Australia, and at face value it appears to be a fundamentally sound system to have in place to better identify the areas that most need funding through the program.

During the course of this debate we have heard from three panel chairs of their respective states and territories, being the member for Solomon, the member for Lyons and the member for Bendigo. They were also joined by their fellow panel chairs from this side of the chamber—the members for Gilmore; Blair; Fremantle; Canberra; and, from my home state, Makin. These panels are constituted similarly but have a few distinctions, given the local variants of infrastructure, motorists and road safety groups across the country.

On the South Australia panel sits the member for Makin with delegates from the Local Government Association of South Australia; the RAA; the South Australian Road Transport Association; the SA Police; the SA Freight Council; the Traffic Management Association of Australia; the Department for Infrastructure and Transport; and a representative for South Australia's minister for road safety, Joe Szakacs.

In fact, less than two months ago, I was delighted to be joined by the panel chair the member for Makin when the assistant minister for infrastructure was in Adelaide to announce 17 projects that were receiving funding under the Black Spot Program in 2023-24. We were also joined by Tom Koutsantonis, the South Australia Minister for Infrastructure and Transport; Tony Piccolo, the state member for Light; Mayor Glenn Docherty and Mayor Karen Redman of the city of Playford and the town of Gawler respectively. We all converged upon the not-all-too-quiet intersection between Dalkeith and Stebonheath roads out in Kudla, located in my electorate of Spence. This was to announce that the Black Spot Program would be funding the installation of a roundabout at this location to the tune of almost $2 million from a total of $5.9 million across 17 announced successful projects. This project is one of concern to many local residents who travel down that intersection every day.

But I wouldn't be a good local member if I didn't say that this is just a drop in the ocean for the road funding that would fix many of the issues faced by motorists in the north of Adelaide. I'll even go so far as to be collegial with the member for Barker and, for that matter, the member for Grey also. It is especially important given that many road users will traverse through their electorates to get to mine or travel further onwards into metropolitan Adelaide and vice versa. A good example that comes to mind would be a heavy vehicle operator, many of whom I represented as a Transport Workers Union official before my time in parliament.

However, this unity ticket waivers a bit when I see the member for Barker speaking of the need to change the rules to make the process of applying easier, yet he thought better of doing so in the many long years he was at the coalface as the chair of South Australia's blackspot panel. As a member so loud to both praise and criticise, he was eerily silent about this. He was keeping it a secret. I wonder why.

The member for Barker left the chamber earlier. One thing that was pointed out to me early on, by the member for Riverina, when I was elected to this place last year was: when it's that big of a matter to you, you usually stay in the chamber as a matter of courtesy to hear the entire debate.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.