Ricky Muir (Victoria, Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) there is a political stalemate between the Federal Government and the Victorian State Government in relation to the East West Link,

(ii) there is approximately $1.5 billion in unspent allocations to the East West Link,

(iii) evidence presented to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee inquiry into aspects of road safety in Australia by the National Rural Health Alliance demonstrated that those who live outside the major cities make up 30 per cent of the population and 52 per cent of deaths due to land transport accidents,

(iv) rural roads play a vital role in putting food on city tables and bringing resources to urban areas,

(v) the annual economic cost of road crashes in Australia is enormous – estimated at $27 billion per annum – and the social impacts are devastating,

(vi) many rural roads are in dangerously poor condition and in desperate need of repair,

(vii) some local councils in Victoria do not have the necessary funding to fully maintain the extensive road networks in their electorate due to proposed rate caps and the federal freeze in financial assistance grants,

(viii) a life in rural and regional Australia is just as important as a life in urban Australia,

(ix) until there is a change of Victorian State Government or a change in Federal Government, a resolution to the East West Link is unlikely, and

(x) there is a strong need in Victoria to invest in rail and road infrastructure in order to ease congestion and improve productivity into the future; and

(b) calls on the Government to withdraw the allocation of federal funding set aside for East West Link and to reallocate this funding to projects to improve rural road infrastructure.

I seek leave to make a short statement.