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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2026
‘LOCALS ROADS ARE IN CRAPPY CONDITION’ - MP
■ Local MP Cindy McLeish says the AuditorGeneral has virtually labelled Victorian roads to be in a “crappy” condition. “Here is a newsflash: the Auditor-General determined today through their report that our roads are in a very crappy condition,” Ms McLeish told Parliament last week. “I think ‘very poor’ was the term that he used, but I know people in my electorate who would use much stronger language than that and would absolutely know this. “It is no surprise whatsoever to see now that 48 per cent of our roads – nearly half – are in poor or very poor condition. “The Auditor-General does these reports every now and again, every eight or so years, and one of the things that they have referenced at the front of the report is the issues with having roads in poor condition: increasing travel times, cost of operating a vehicle and the risk of accidents. “We see this – all of us see this, government members see this. Government members drive over these pothole-ridden surfaces. “I know – I was heading to Macedon not so long ago, driving up the Calder. I cannot believe that the former Premier was ignoring the issues on the Calder – the litter was one thing, but the potholes were extraordinary – and did nothing about it. “She turned a blind eye as she was chauffeur-driven up the Calder Highway. But there is an impact on people. By delaying maintenance or diverting funding, the problem gets worse. The longer you leave it, the worse it gets.”
Huge potholes
“Not so long ago I was in Kinglake,” Ms McLeish said. “I was on the Healesville-to-Whittlesea road, and there was a series of about seven or eight little potholes. “If they are not attended to – and they were not – they will grow and grow and grow. We get huge potholes and craters, and people complain to me all of the time. “It has an impact on people because they do get punctures, and they do need to go and get them fixed. “It costs a lot of money, and in a cost-of-living crisis, which we are in now, people do not have spare cash to get a new tyre or fix a rim every two or three months when they hit a pothole. “On these roads, in these conditions, it is difficult to see at some points – at dusk, at night, in the wet and in forested areas, like in my electorate. “As you drive around corners at dusk or as it gets dark, you cannot actually see the potholes. If there is water on the road, you do not always know that there is a 60-centimetre-deep crater that your car may be about to hit.
Complaints
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“Victoria has a growing population, and with that growing population come more cars on the road. People are out and about a lot more and that does more damage to our roads. “There is more traffic on the roads, more cars and more freight. We have caravans and we have horse floats. All of these things are on the roads. “And the trucks, the more and more they drive over those little potholes, they become bigger and bigger. “It is not just the Auditor-General talking about the roads; it is everybody – everywhere I go, every event I attend. “Every day in the office we have emails, comments on Facebook or somebody ringing
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the office to complain about the roads. It is not just in my electorate. I know my colleagues have these issues all of the time, and I know government members have this all of the time. “ABC radio and ABC TV cover the pothole situations. It is not just talkback on AM at all. FM stations cover this as well. People out there everywhere are talking about issues with our roads. “They are telling me about the potholes, the crumbling surfaces and shoulders – no shoulders – and the wire rope barriers that have got trees one metre wide and 1½ metres high growing out of the middle of the road.
Broken ‘cat’s eyes’ “There are white lines that are faded – the white lines on the Black Spur, for example, which is a pretty testy road at the best of times – and white lines to the side covered with leaves, litter and debris. “In fact it was the police who alerted me to that because people have to travel closer to the middle of the road because they cannot see where it falls away. There are broken or missing cat’s eyes. This is what people tell me all the time. “We knew this, and guess what, it turns out the Auditor-General found the same thing. To think now that half the network – 48 per cent of the network – is in poor condition or very poor condition. “These are the 2024 figures, up from 39 per cent in 2021. In 2021 39 per cent of the roads were rated as poor or very poor, and now it is 48 per cent. “Well, no-one in my electorate will be even remotely surprised to hear that. The roads in very poor condition for their remaining useful life jumped from 26 per cent in 2021 to 37 per cent. These are enormous jumps.
‘48% poor roads’
“The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report was tabled today. This is not something that we are making up; this is something that the Auditor-General can hold his hand on his heart about. We can all hold our hands on our hearts, as can members of the government and as should members of the government. “Eighty-two per cent of state roads are in regional Victoria – makes sense – and the worst performing state region is Loddon Mallee, but Hume is not far behind.”
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