Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about the impact that the perilous state of the Victorian state Labor government's finances is having on Western Victoria. It is a telltale lesson as to why governments have to be able to manage money, because if they cannot then the sad reality is that it impacts people and it impacts people on the ground. The sad reality, when it comes to this Victorian state Labor government, is that it's impacting those in regional and rural Victoria more than anywhere else—and they have to stop their neglect.

We've seen it play out in road funding. The fact that they've cut road maintenance funding by 95 per cent over the last couple of years is nothing short of a disgrace. The state of the roads is deteriorating before our eyes as a result. But it's not only roads where we're starting to see it; we're also starting to see its impact on our local health services. The figures that came out last week, which show that the pressure on hospitals' budgets continues to grow and that many of our hospitals, including in south-western Victoria, are now running in the red, show how badly this government has mishandled projects and, in particular, mishandled money. It is having a real impact, because when your roads deteriorate and your health network deteriorates it means pain for people, pain for families and pain for what they have to pay, whether it be for getting tyres and rims fixed or in trying to find other ways to get the health care they need.

But it's not only through that that we're seeing it; we're also seeing it in delays when it comes to projects—delays when it comes to fixing roundabouts, delays when it comes to doing community projects which will benefit the community. We're starting to see things like the Twelve Apostles Precinct run year upon year upon year late because this government cannot manage these projects and cannot manage the money around them. From a federal government point of view, we gave over $110 million towards the Twelve Apostles Precinct, and still the action the state government has taken on that has been minimal. They have to get their act in order.