LABOR SITS COMPLACENT WHILE ROAD TOLL RISES
TONY PASIN MP
MEMBER FOR BARKER
ASSISTANT SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT
MEDIA RELEASE
LABOR SITS COMPLACENT WHILE ROAD TOLL RISES
Assistant Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Member for Barker Tony Pasin MP, says the Labor Government’s 90-day infrastructure review is delaying important road safety upgrades as the national road network falls into disrepair with billions of dollars in funding cuts and delays.
“The Coalition Government set us on a trajectory of increased investment into road infrastructure, building what was needed for the safe and productive movement of goods and to ensure people get home to their loved ones.”
“Not only has the Labor Government disrupted this trajectory, they’ve put the productivity of our road network on pause while we watch the road toll rise and our freight operators struggle with increased input costs. Labor’s infrastructure review is one we didn’t need and in truth, one we can’t afford,” Mr Pasin said.
Mr Pasin said the road toll is unacceptably high with the latest BITRE figures showing a total of 110 road deaths during the month of July, 19.6 per cent higher than the average for July over the previous five years.
After the road toll has been in decline for years, we are now seeing a complete turnaround in these statistics with Australia, now hurtling off track, almost certain to miss our National Road Safety Strategy’s 2030 targets.
Our national targets of halving road deaths by 2030 and eliminating road deaths for children under seven are well off track while three other major targets can’t be measured because the data doesn’t exist.
“The Labor Government is dragging its feet on the collection and reporting of road safety data while major road infrastructure investment has all but ceased.”
“Every death on our roads is a tragedy. If we want to make headway in reducing the number of Australian lives lost on our roads, we need to get on with addressing the maintenance backlog on our road network and force State Government’s to provide the necessary data to inform road safety investment decisions,” Mr Pasin said.
Media Contact: Charlotte Edmunds 8724 7730
