Opposition leader Jess Wilson and Nationals Leader Danny O’Brien announced the policy during the Coalition’s Fresh Start Tour, promising a 25 per cent spending increase, a stand-alone Better Roads Victoria division and a review of maintenance contracts.
State Member for Shepparton Kim O'Keeffe said her office had been “inundated” with complaints, pointing to budget papers she said showed regional resurfacing targets falling more than 75 per cent since 2021, from 11,800 to 2589 thousand square metres.
“When you have a 75 per cent reduction in road maintenance, it is no wonder our roads are falling apart,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
The claim isn’t new; Mr O’Brien raised it in parliament in May, alongside a separate claim that patching works would fall 87 per cent.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Ros Spence responded at the time that the government was “spending differently”.
The government points to a record $1.04 billion maintenance spend in the 2026-27 budget, with 70 per cent directed to regional Victoria, and says crews repaired 187,000 potholes in the past year.
Ms O'Keeffe and Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland have tied the issue to the Coalition’s ‘Fair Share Guarantee’, which would lift regional Victoria’s infrastructure spending share from a claimed 12 per cent to 25 per cent, matching its population share.
Ms Cleeland’s office received almost 100 reports of dangerous road conditions in one week during the school holidays, citing blown tyres, cracked rims and written-off vehicles.
The Victorian Farmers Federation welcomed the $5 billion commitment as a step in the right direction, but said it still fell short.
VFF president Ryan Milgate said the group, alongside six regional advocacy partners, called in April for an extra $2 billion over four years.
“This commitment is a significant milestone in the advocacy of the VFF and our regional partners, but it still falls short of the investment needed to properly rebuild Victoria’s crumbling road network,” Mr Milgate said.
Mr Milgate welcomed the proposed Better Roads Victoria body, but said funding needed to go towards fixing roads rather than “red-tape and middle management”.
Regional Cities Victoria welcomed the pledge.
The group’s chairman, Cr Ben Blain, said it acknowledged years of advocacy for long-term investment over short-term patching.
“You simply cannot patch your way out of decades of underinvestment,” Cr Blain said.
The Victorian Government was contacted for comment, but Country News did not receive a reply before deadline.
