The Federal Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster MP has welcomed the four Mallee sites that have received road Black Spot funding, but says the allocated money should be greater, exposing the Albanese Labor government’s poor record on road safety.

“There should be a lot more Black Spot grants in Mallee and across regional Australia, but in their first 19 months in office Labor stripped $69 million from the Black Spot Road Safety program during 2022/23, and underspent it by at least $16 million in 2023/4,” Dr Webster said.

“Not only has regional Australia had to go without Black Spot improvements in Labor’s first two years in office, but the Albanese Government also abolished the Roads of Strategic Importance program to upgrade secondary freight routes and discontinued the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program.”

“I met with most of my 12 Mallee councils in Canberra last week and the dire challenge of maintaining local roads and making them safer was one of the major topics they raised with me.  The other related major concern is councils’ long-term viability with a shortage of federal funds which, in turn, makes it very hard for shires to improve local roads.

“The Nationals support our Councils and will be providing the funding they need for their own sustainability and to make our roads safer.

The four successful Mallee sites under the 2024/5 Black Spots program for Victoria are:

• Cnr Baillie Street (Western Hwy) and Urquhart St, Horsham $407,400
• Cnr High Street (Pyrenees Hwy) and Inkerman St, Maryborough $868,000
• Cnr Calder Highway and Belar Avenue, Irymple $1,376,000
• Cnr Walnut Avenue and Thirteenth Street, Mildura $155,000