On Monday, February 26, Mr Birrell described the state of them as unacceptable.
“The reality is that the roads are a disgrace, they're getting worse and despite platitudes from those on that side of the chamber, I don't see any improvement in the roads and I don't see any effort happening on the ground,” he said.
“There have been some terrible weather impacts on our infrastructure, in my electorate particularly.
“Communities were isolated and displaced, sometimes for weeks and months and the national freight supply chains were disrupted.”
He also addressed the lack of movement on the Shepparton Bypass.
“In my electorate this manifested particularly because we don't have a second bridge over the Goulburn River,” Mr Birrell said.
“There's only one on what's called the Peter Ross-Edwards Causeway.
“When that gets cut that means that not only are emergency service vehicles cut on both sides of the river but trying to get fresh produce, which is a stock in trade for my electorate, whether it be fruit or milk, can't get from one side to the other.”
Mr Birrell addressed the room, saying that the repairs weren’t good enough and they were temporary solutions to an ongoing problem.
“The temporary repairs seem to wash out,” he said.
“National roads and state roads are very bad, local road networks are worse.”
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