Hosking unveils $5 billion plan for roads recovery

The Nationals candidate for Murray Plains, Brett Hosking, says the $5 billion Nationals and Liberals commitment for Victoria’s collapsing road network is a massive first step towards recovery – and safety.

Mr Hosking says the most dangerous road across the state must now be the priority, and once they are fixed “we can start spreading the money further”.

He says next would be ensuring the major arterial roads across regional Victoria which carry the nation’s freight alongside an increasing number of private vehicles is the next logical step.

“From there we can start identifying those other regional roads which have fallen into rack and ruin after more than a decade of Labor mismanagement and its total disdain for anything outside Melbourne,” Mr Hosking says.

“With our Fair Share guarantee as the basis for us moving forward as a state where your postcode doesn’t determine your future, more money on roads is a blueprint for an equal future.

“This commitment to making safer road travel on better quality local roads is exactly the kind of news Victorians in general, and regional Victorians in particular, have been waiting to hear.”

Mr Hosking says with $5 billion upfront for roads, he will also be pushing a Nationals Liberal government to take the next step to secure the long-term future of our road network.

And he says in his opinion, that would be resurrecting something such as the Country Roads Board, a properly funded and independent organisation whose sole purpose is to make sure our roads are maintained and are safe.

“The old CRB did a brilliant job, but as Labor dismantled so many successful regional organisations, and sucked the money into the growing black hole of its big build debt and corruption, our roads started paying the price almost immediately,” Mr Hosking adds.

“The details announced today agree we should establish something called Better Roads Victoria as a standalone agency within the Department of Transport and Planning, rebuilding the technical and engineering expertise lost when the Allan Labor government abandoned VicRoads and axed Regional Roads Victoria,” he says.

 “But regional Victoria faces many different road challenges if, for no other reason, the distances involved, so we need a dedicated regional focus and budget and that’s what I’ll be fighting for.

“Only our Nationals and Liberals team has a plan to repair and rebuild Victoria’s roads and deliver a government that works.”