State and Federal Government bureaucrats have failed to roll out millions of dollars in Princes Highway safety projects despite money sitting in the Budget for five years, according to Member for Gippsland Darren Chester.
Mr Chester said motorists would be disgusted to learn that $156 million from the Princes Highway corridor program, which started in 2019-20, remains unallocated to local projects.
“People are being killed and injured on the Princes Highway while the bureaucrats and this incompetent Minister sit on money that was allocated to Victoria five years ago,” Mr Chester told Parliament.
The revelation came in Senate Estimates hearings this week where Federal Government bureaucrats admitted that $156 million out of the $316 million Princes Highway corridor program for Victoria remained unallocated.
Mr Chester said he had written to the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Catherine King on more than 10 occasions to seek clarity on the program, along with progress reports, and to suggest future priorities.
“All of the letters have been constructive and sought information on how my community could work with this Minister to deliver transport infrastructure improvements, primarily related to the Princes Highway corridor. And we have been ignored,” Mr Chester said.
“The contempt shown by this Minister and her Department is something I’ve never seen in 16 years as the Member for Gippsland.
“Basic questions about the amount of headroom remaining in the Princes Highway corridor program, progress reports on individual projects that have been waiting for more than three years to start work, and how we can help identify priority projects going forward have all been ignored by this Minister.
“Obviously, the last thing the Canberra bureaucrats want is input from people who actually drive the roads in Gippsland every day.”
Mr Chester said it was extraordinarily frustrating for local communities to have projects announced but then see no progress for years.
“The failure to deliver projects which would boost the Gippsland economy and deliver road safety benefits for locals and visitors is a disgrace,” Mr Chester said.
“The State Government has cut road maintenance funding, and the Federal Government has not provided any new money for capital works, so the Princes Highway is falling into a dangerous state of disrepair.
“Now we know there is money sitting there, but the bureaucrats haven’t been able to agree on projects and funding splits.
“After two years in office, there’s not a single transport project in Gippsland today that this Minister has funded despite the unallocated funds sitting in the Federal Budget.”
