VFF calls on Jim Chalmers, Angus Taylor for regional Victoria road cash splash

Will Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor offer a special regional Victorian roads package? With an election only months away, calls are getting louder.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his Opposition counterpart Angus Taylor have dodged calls for a Canberra cash package for potholed regional Victorian roads ahead of the federal election.

Due by May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is yet to set a date for when Australians head to the polls but has already pledged $2.2bn for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking has called for a federal package for regional Victorian roads, noting 23 people had already died on rural thoroughfares in 2025.

He said motorists driving on regional roads were three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than those travelling on urban highways and byways.

“With a federal election looming, there’s no better time for our leaders to step up and commit to genuinely fixing this mess,” Mr Hosking said.

The Weekly Times contacted both Dr Chalmers and Mr Taylor, asking whether they would support a specific cash pledge for regional Victorian roads.

The office of Dr Chalmers did not respond and Mr Taylor’s office deferred questions to Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Photo: Nadir Kinani

A spokesman for Senator McKenzie said if elected, a Dutton government would work with state governments on “sensible proposals to repair our roads” but did not specify a dollar figure.

“The VFF has rightly highlighted a sleeper and deeply troubling issue in the Victorian community with national road toll deaths at a 12 year high,” the spokesman said.

“Over the past four years surging fatalities is a rising trend in accidents not seen in the decades since the introduction of compulsory seatbelts.”

Victorian Roads Minister Melissa Horne has been contacted by The Weekly Times for comment.

Victorian National Party leader Danny O’Brien said: “The VFF is right to call out the appalling state of Victorian roads and the impact this has on farmers, local residents, businesses and visitors alike.

“We certainly need better investment in our roads from the Allan and Albanese Labor Governments who are more than willing to throw billions at the city but leave country Victorians driving on goat tracks.”