The Auditor-General’s Report into Maintaining State-Controlled Roadways has confirmed that East Gippsland motorists are worse off under the Andrews Labor Government, according to Gippsland East MP, Tim Bull.
Mr Bull said the report, released today, highlighted a number of deficiencies relating to the Government’s management of roadways in rural and regional Victoria.
Page 15 of the report states:
“Reduced funding in real terms, and deficiencies in developing the maintenance program, have led to maintenance practices that are not adequate to sustain the functional condition of VicRoads’ road network at an acceptable standard.
“The proportion of the network requiring rehabilitation has increased. As a result, less money has been available for works that slow the rate of road pavement deterioration.”
“I am regularly contacted by motorists who are concerned with the condition of our roads, which are clearly deteriorating due to State Government funding cuts,” Mr Bull said.
“In the first two budgets delivered by this government, we saw a cut of just under a third of a billion dollars ($307 million) in budgets that service country Victorian roads.
“The Government had the chance to address these issues on country roads but instead has wasted valuable time in cutting funding that would have gone a long way to improving the network.
“On top of this, the Government also cut the $160 million Country Roads and Bridges Program that provided $1m per year straight to East Gippsland and Wellington Councils.”
The report says the Government’s approach to road maintenance is reactive, with maintenance generally being carried out only when it becomes critical.
“This is not the Opposition saying this, it’s the independent Auditor-General and he is confirming what we have been saying all along,” Mr Bull said.
Caption: Gippsland East MP, Tim Bull, says the Auditor-General’s Report into Maintaining State-Controlled Roads confirms what the Opposition has been saying all along – Labor’s funding reductions are having a severe impact on country Victorian roads.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
