CONCERNS have been raised about the state of the Hume Highway, with Nationals’ Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland calling on the State Government to better maintain wire rope barriers.
“I’ve had constituents from Broadford to Benalla let me know about wire rope barriers left lying on the ground of the Hume for months on end,” Ms Cleeland said.
“These barriers are meant to protect motorists, yet they’ve been left to deteriorate—putting lives at risk.”
With the number of lives lost on regional roads rising sharply this year, Ms Cleeland said the government needed to drastically rethink its priorities.
“Nearly four people are dying on regional Victorian roads every week—this is a crisis that demands immediate action,” she said.
“So far in 2025, we’ve seen an 11.9 per cent increase in the number of lives lost on our roads, with fatalities on regional roads up by a staggering 25 per cent.
“Despite making up just 23 per cent of the population, regional Victorians are accounting for more than 60 per cent of road deaths.”
Meanwhile, the Allan Labor Government has taken $1.13 billion from the Transport Accident Commission (TAC)—more than three times what it originally promised—yet continues to ignore the worsening state of Victoria’s roads.
In a Public Accounts and Estimates Committee hearing this week, Labor admitted it had taken the billion-dollar TAC dividend, despite budget papers indicating otherwise.
When asked whether this money would be reinvested into road safety, the TAC simply said it was “for the government to decide.”