Putting their heads together: Annabelle Cleeland, Sam Birrell, Senior Sergeant Emma Moloney, Kim O’Keeffe, Danny O’Brien and Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell at the RoadSafe GV roundtable.
Photo by
Grace Carter
RoadSafe Goulburn Valley hosted a roundtable meeting in Shepparton on Friday, February 2, with state and federal politicians in attendance to discuss concerns about the state of regional Victoria’s road network.
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RoadSafe Goulburn Valley chairman Des Callaghan led the meeting with Victorian Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety Danny O’Brien, State Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe, State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland, Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell and State Member for Northern Victoria Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell in attendance.
Issues discussed during the meeting included the rising number of lives lost on regional roads, cuts to the road maintenance and resurfacing budgets, funding for road improvements and the next steps to take going forward.
According to the Tyre Geek website’s recent analysis of nearly 1300 road fatalities in Australia in 2023, Shepparton ranked as the fourth most dangerous region for the number of road deaths, registering 20.5 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Although road quality is not the main reason for fatalities, it is the leading cause of non-injury collisions.
Mr O’Brien said that although floods had contributed to road deterioration, the lack of funding to maintain and repair roads was the real issue.
“These roads are causing problems for commuters, the transport industry and visitors to our regional towns,” he said.
“There are 23,000km of road that VicRoads is responsible for, and there has been 25km of roadside grading.
“The roads themselves don’t cause too many accidents... but we know when the roads are bad, it certainly doesn’t help.”
Safety collaboration: Victorian Nationals MPs Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland with Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety Danny O’Brien.
Ms O’Keeffe said if the roads were not maintained, driving would become more dangerous, and more accidents would happen.
“The stats for our region are absolutely devastating, and that has to change,” she said.
“Talking and collaborating with groups like this, to have something to add to our own discussions, is really important.
“We’ve just got to really keep pushing the government to fund the improvement of our roads.”
Ms Cleeland said investment into the roads budget was crucial to improving damaged roads rather than continuing patch-up maintenance.
“The sheer number of lives lost has been devastating, but we must never forget that these are not just numbers but people whose families, friends and communities will mourn their loss for years to come,” she said.
“We’ve already heard from our local councils that the most recent floods have washed away most of the patch-up road repairs that were done following the 2022 floods. This is not a cycle that needs to continue; it’s time the Allan Labor Government cares for the lives of Victorians and invests in repairing these roads properly.
“Our roadworthy cars deserve roads that are worthy of them.”
