As Victoria’s road network continues to crumble, new data has revealed funding for road resurfacing work has dropped to a five-year low.

Figures provided to State Parliament show that the money spent on resurfacing and resealing contracts in the 2023/24 financial year was just 18 per cent of the previous year, dropping a staggering $163.8 million across the state.

The Nationals’ Member for Mildura, Jade Benham, said while road surfaces across the state are already disastrous, this dramatic drop in basic maintenance will condemn Victorians to worse roads in future.

“These figures highlight the drastic budget cuts that have seen our roads deteriorate dramatically over the past few years,” said Ms Benham.

“We’ve got to a point where the government’s own survey last year revealed 91 per cent of roads were in poor or very poor condition with the remaining nine per cent only listed as ‘fair’.”

The National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO) conducted the survey for the Department of Transport across the state’s road network.

“Instead of working to resolve this issue, Labor’s dramatic reduction in road resurfacing and re-sealing work will lead to even worse roads.

Concerns about road surface issues have been longstanding and last financial year contributed to nearly 1200 claims received by the Department of Transport and Planning for property damage.

Additionally, in March of this year it was revealed that at least 480 regional roads were subject to speed limit reductions or driver warnings due to their poor state.

“Only the Nationals will provide the investment our country roads need, as committed to last election with a promise of $10 billion over 10 years,” said Ms Benham.

“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage our road network, and regional Victorian families are paying the price.”

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 30 July 2024.