Andrews government road funding uncertain as regional roads fall apart

Roads Minister Melissa Horne has failed to detail how much will be spent on regional roads, just days out from the start of the new financial year.

Just how much the Andrews government will spend on Victoria’s regional roads in 2023-24 remains “tbc” - to be confirmed.

Regional Victoria’s road funding future is shrouded in a fog of uncertainty, with the Andrews government refusing to detail spending for the new financial year.

Victorian Roads Minister Melissa Horne has still not set regional road maintenance targets for 2023-24, after the state budget simply stated “tbc” – to be confirmed.

The government is already falling behind on its promises, setting a 2022-23 target for road rehabilitation and resurfacing of 12,140 square metres in May last year, which is now expected to fall to 8570 square metres – a 30 per cent shortfall.

Minister Horne’s office responded by stating: “The October floods had a significant impact on the condition of our roads across the state, which has meant that we’ve had to reassess and reprioritise the way we deliver routine maintenance.”

“The effort required to fix flood-affected roads is immense, and we’re focusing our efforts on that task in the short term while also planning a long-term program of road maintenance works.”

But Opposition roads spokesman Danny O’Brien said baseline funding for roads maintenance in 2023-24 was less than the last year of the former Liberals and Nationals government, nine years ago.

“Even with the so-called additional money in the budget, the allocation is still 25 per cent less than 2022-23,” Mr O’Brien said.

The budget allocated $441 million to road asset management for 2023-24, which along with $30 million in output and $50 million asset funding delivers a total of $521 million, well short of the $770 million the government said it was spending in 2022-23.

Ms Horne’s office responded: “This year’s budget delivers an extra $2.8 billion in road maintenance over 10 years to ensure motorists can keep moving safely - meaning at least $6.6 billion will be invested in road asset management on Victoria’s road network over the next decade.”

Mr O’Brien said it was “like a scene from (the ABC satire) Utopia coming to life - bundle up funding into a ten-year program and it makes the spending seem so much bigger”.

“The fact is we need significant investment in our roads now, not in 10 years’ time and all the government’s budget spending is heavily back-ended while there’s not a single extra dollar for flood recovery.”

Meanwhile Victoria has been short-changed on road funding by the federal government, receiving just $5.7 billion, while NSW and Queensland received more than $10 billion each.