Albanese government delays $69 million allocated for fixing road black spots

More than $69 million for fixing black spots on roads has been delayed by the Albanese government amid an increase in fatalities and serious accidents.

More than $69 million allocated to fix dangerous black spots on roads across the country has been ripped out of the budget by the Albanese government amid an increase in fatalities and serious accidents.

With more than 1191 people killed on Australian roads last year, the Opposition has accused the government of showing “callous disregard” for safety by not rolling over $60.37 million in unspent funds from 2021-22 into this financial year.

Instead the government has reallocated the funds evenly over the next ten years through to 2032-33.

The underspend plus an $8.8 million drop in black spot funding for 2022-23 under Labor compared to the former Coalition government’s budget has also been criticised by regional mayors, who argue flood-damaged roads could urgently use the cash.

The result is a $19.61 million funding loss for NSW, $31 million for Victoria, $9.15 million for Queensland and $2.59 million for South Australia, while remaining states are down a combined $6.82 million

The driver of this car was lucky to leave with non-life-threatening injuries after a crash at a black spot on the Bruce Highway in Queensland. Picture: Cameron Bates

A department spokesman told News Corp funding was “retained within the program” and remained available to states and territories “for future use”.

“The Australian government is providing at least $110 million each year to this ongoing program,” the spokesman said.

But by spreading the $60.37 million underspend over the next decade instead of rolling it straight into the current financial year, the majority of the funds are not available to use for road works until after 2026.

The government has funded all recommended black spot projects and there is no current backlog of applications to be processed or approved.

The Black Spot Program is for road works in places where there have been “serious crashes or where serious crashes are likely to occur”.

Opposition transport and infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie condemned the apparent cuts, accusing Labor of showing “callous disregard for addressing road trauma”.

Final road toll data is yet to be released in some jurisdictions, but every state and territory recorded more deaths by November 30 last year than during the previous pandemic years.

“It makes no sense why Labor would reduce expenditure in this important area of road safety, especially when we have sadly experienced an increase in road fatalities,” Ms McKenzie said.

“It begs the question of Labor’s priorities when they target road safety funding to pay for their big spending agenda.”

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said there had been “no cuts” to the black spot program.

“As a former minister for road safety and a regional Victorian, I know that every death on our roads is a tragedy,” she said on Twitter.

“This is something that should never be politicised.”

Gunnedah Shire Mayor Jamie Chaffey said the funding should have been kept in the program.

“You would struggle to find a council in country NSW that wouldn’t be able to use every cent of road funding,” he said.

“It’s not just accidents, the reported near-misses are a real concern for me … and there’s been an increase due to damage caused by the flooding.”

Queensland’s Balonne Shire Mayor Samantha O’Toole said it was disappointing the funding hadn’t rolled over, and hoped the government would instead consider adjusting the criteria so more councils could apply to the program.

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