Australian federal election 2019: Coalition promises $6m in road safety funding for Gold Coast

The Gold Coast’s struggling road system will receive a major pre-election cash injection, with the Federal Government today announcing money in a $2.2B package.

THE Gold Coast will receive an extra $6 million in road safety funding as part of a $2.2 billion pre-election pitch from the Coalition.

The Morrison Government will this morning announce a $2.2 billion road safety funding spend across the nation which will include $29.6m for the Gold Coast Roads to Recovery budget - up from a budgeted $23.7m.

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The funds will go towards improving safety on the Coast’s road network Photo: David Clark

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funds would be directed to the Gold Coast City Council to determine how to improve safety on the region’s roads.

“The truth is fatal road accidents are far too common,’’ Mr Morrison said.

“More than a thousand Australians died on our roads last year. That’s devastating.

“These are mums who didn’t make it home from work, or children that didn’t make it to school.

“These programs mean local councils decide where the money should be spent. They are in the best position to identify black spots and problem areas.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

The announcement will include:

* An extra $1.1 billion in funding for local governments.

* An extra $550 million to the government’s black spot program, through which funding is targeted to known high-risk locations. It and reduces serious crashes by 30 per cent, on average.

* A further $571.1 million to improve the safety and efficiency of heavy vehicle operations.

* A new $12 million Road Safety Innovation Fund to support research and development in areas such as regional road safety, driver distraction from mobile devices, protecting vulnerable road users and reducing drug driving.

* The creation of an Office of Road Safety

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“The Office of Road Safety will provide a national point for collaboration and leadership on key road safety priorities, working closely with states, territories, local government, and key road safety stakeholders,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Michael McCormack.

“Safer roads save lives. They also create jobs in construction and boost productivity.

“The Liberals and Nationals are building safer roads and bridges. This means safer heavy vehicle operations, which is critical to our goal of reducing road trauma on the nation’s roads.

“We must push ahead with practical measures and infrastructure funding to drive road deaths towards zero.”

The Coast’s road network will enjoy an extra $6m. Photo by Richard Gosling

There were 1143 road toll victims across the country in 2018 - including 244 in Queensland. And in Queensland last year, 29 people died from crashes involving semi-trailers.

The funding also helps answer the call of road safety stakeholders which released a report last month labelling Australia’s road toll “a national crisis”.

The national peak group the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), funded by RACQ, NRMA and RACV, revealed Australia would need to do more to reduce the road toll by 30 per cent by December next year - or to limit annual deaths to 998.

It is the third pre-budget commitment for the Gold Coast.

The Morrison Government last week committed $8 million to investigating fast rail between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Last year it committed $112 million for the Gold Coast light rail’s third stage, between Broadbeach and Burleigh, with the money to be included in next week’s budget.

Labor has also matched the tram funding, which ensures the project will go ahead regardless of which party wins the May election.