Roads Safety Minister’s shocking miss over speed when grilled by the parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

In a huge embarrassment for the Allan government, Victoria’s Roads Safety Minister Melissa Horne forgot reducing speeding was a key part of the state’s road safety plan — saying she had a “tired old brain”.

Picture: David Caird

Victoria’s roads safety minister could not recall key details about the state’s action plan in a major gaffe that left her red faced before a parliamentary committee.

In a huge embarrassment for the Allan government, Melissa Horne on Friday forgot speed as a critical area of focus as part of the state’s road safety plan.

Ms Horne was being grilled by the parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee as part of a probe into this year’s state budget.

But she needed to defer to TAC chief Tracey Slatter while answering a Dorothy Dixer by Labor colleague Michael Galea about Victoria’s $17m Road Safety Action Plan.

“In order to have a safe road system you need to focus on four key things,” Ms Horne said.

“You need to have safe behaviour, you need to have safe infrastructure … you need to have safe vehicles, so making sure that people have the safest vehicles they possibly can is absolutely critical, and Tracey just to refresh my tired old brain, what’s the fourth component of road safe behaviour,” she said.

Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Roads and Road Safety Melissa Horne. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Ms Horne then deferred to Ms Slatter who took a moment before being able to recall speed as the final pillar of the road safety plan.

“And safer speed,” Mr Horne said.

“It’s speeding that is the number one factor in road trauma,” she said.

Nationals leaser and shadow roads minister, Danny O’Brien, said the gaffe was “an embarrassing performance from a minister who has let our roads fall apart and now forgets the basics of road safety”.

It comes amid warnings by police for Victorian motorists to take care on the roads this King’s Birthday long weekend with the road toll, currently at 136, at a five year high.

That figure is 11.5 per cent higher than the same time last year, and higher than any period in the last five years.

“Over the last three weeks it’s pretty much been carnage on Victorian roads,” detective senior sergeant Paul Lineham said last week.

“As a lead up to our King’s Birthday long weekend we just implore drivers to pay attention to the roads.

“If you want to have a drink, don’t drive. Don’t get distracted. Take your time to get to your destination.”

Originally published as Roads Safety Minister’s shocking miss over speed when grilled by the parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee