The Victorian Government has announced an additional $352 million to repair potholes across the state, but the Coalition says the spending spree is an admission that Labor has allowed Victoria’s roads to deteriorate after years of neglect.
Premier Ben Carroll said the funding would double the government’s pothole repair target from 250,000 to 500,000 this year, with work expected to accelerate as rainfall eases and conditions become more suitable for road repairs.
Mr Carroll said the money would flow immediately, with most work expected to be carried out through the second half of the year and into January.
Major routes including the Geelong Ring Road, Western Highway, Calder Highway and Princes Highway, along with regional roads, are expected to be targeted.
“This is absolutely where Victorians want to see their money spent – it is my priority,” Mr Carroll said.
“The condition of our roads is not good enough.”
But the admission has handed the opposition fresh ammunition.
Shadow Minister for Transport Infrastructure Evan Mulholland accused Labor of trying to take credit for fixing a problem he says it helped create.
“Ben Carroll was Roads Minister when $214 million was cut from road maintenance,” Mr Mulholland said.
“Now he expects Victorians to believe he will fix the roads, after 12 years of ignoring them.”
The government says the extra road funding will be paid for through savings elsewhere in the budget, including $112 million from delaying the completion of three level-crossing removals at Highett Road and Wickham Road in Highett and Latrobe Street in Mentone by one year.
The government argues fixing roads is now a more urgent priority than completing those projects in 2032 rather than 2033.
The announcement also follows other savings identified by the government, including $2 billion linked to the Suburban Rail Loop and another $70 million from consultants and other spending.
Critics are likely to question why such a major pothole repair program has become necessary after Labor’s long period in government and whether the latest funding represents genuine long-term maintenance reform or another attempt to catch up on an expanding backlog.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Paul Hamer sought to turn the attack back on the opposition, arguing Labor’s target was twice the number of potholes the Coalition had promised to repair each year.
“This is twice as many potholes as the Liberals promise to fix in a given year – and far more in reality, because they’ll cut funds,” Mr Hamer said.
But Mr Mulholland said the Coalition’s plan went beyond emergency patching and was focused on preventative maintenance.
“Only The Liberals and Nationals have a fully costed, $5 billion, four-year plan to eliminate one million potholes and return to the preventative maintenance regime necessary to clean up Labor’s roads mess,” he said.
The political fight comes as drivers across Melbourne and regional Victoria continue to complain about deteriorating road surfaces, potholes and patchwork repairs.
Labor says the latest funding will allow crews to move faster as weather improves.
But the scale of the target itself — 500,000 potholes in a single year — is likely to fuel further questions about how badly the road network has deteriorated and whether previous maintenance funding was sufficient.
The government has accused the Coalition of planning cuts to road maintenance, while the opposition says Labor is now spending hundreds of millions of dollars fixing damage that should have been prevented in the first place.
For Mr Carroll, the announcement is being presented as a reset on roads.
For the opposition, it is evidence of something very different: a government trying to repair the consequences of its own record.
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