As early voting opens across Australia The Standard sat down with each of the candidates to hear their thoughts on Wannon’s top issues. Here see them explain how they’d tackle the region’s roads.
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00:00I really want to make sure we're finally getting our fair share of roads funding that comes through
00:14transparency of where the funds are going we've seen Melbourne get 25 20% of sorry 20 times the
00:21funding of regional areas so we want to fix that up and also push for a new bill which is the right
00:29to safe roads so many of our roads in our area rated one star out of five for safety and ensuring
00:35that by 2030 that's raised up to at least a three star level is really crucial the roads in one and
00:40are really terrible they need patching up they need when you ride on the roads like a bumpy
00:47roller coaster roller coaster really and so we really do need some fixing up of roads and there's
00:52a major one in my electorate I mean one and that needs a traffic light signal it's one of the
00:58dangerous ones that I think in our town that needs a bit of work and a bit of lights there for kids to
01:04cross over so there's a few things we can do for roads I think we need better investment in our
01:10regional roads build good quality roads from the start we need more regular maintenance fixing
01:16small defects before they become huge gaping potholes and traffic hazards so that the roads
01:21are safe for everyone to drive on we also need to mitigate against the effects of climate change
01:26and knowing that more severe weather events will happen like floods and fires and droughts I think
01:33we need to really prepare for that at the moment the roads are come under the Victorian state control
01:42whilst there is federal funding for some of these projects it doesn't seem to be going to the right
01:50areas judging on the conditions of the roads we are in Wanam area on black soil which is reactive
02:01which then leads to needing better quality of engineering to stop them from deteriorating before their lifespan is up
02:15the roads that I've seen so far they do need some assistance so we've got to make sure that we keep
02:25investing in our roads for at the federal level what we've seen under the Albanese Labor government
02:31is cuts to our road funding and of course the Victorian state government is broke so they aren't providing the
02:38money that we need into our local roads both to maintain them and to fix them so a coalition government if elected will provide four dollars for every one dollar the state puts into our roads so that we can make sure when it comes to the maintenance of our roads and fixing our roads the Commonwealth is making a significant contribution
03:03we are also going to announce that we will be working with local government to make sure that we can fix their roads as well and that's there's more to come on that during the election campaign but making sure we fund the state government and that four to one ratio because at the moment it's one to one ratio and ensuring that we work with local government is going to be absolutely vital
03:30and can I say it's also great to see that the 60 million dollars that we provided when we were in government to fix the road between Warrnambool and Port Ferry we're seeing action on that at last and I'm sure everyone who travels that road will be thrilled that that 60 million dollars that a coalition government put into that road that the state government are finally fixing it
03:56Wannins roads I'm really pleased to be seeing the Labor government actually improving the roads throughout Wannan I know because I travel all the roads of course and with federal funding we've been able to improve the highways the state is looking after more of their roads which the freeways and and other roads that people props not aware that the state roads and also
04:25they're putting in more funds into the black spot program which is very necessary where there's real issues with problems with accidents and so on and also the safer roads program and as of last year 1st of July the SLRIP program which is really an investment program to make sure that more infrastructures going into the roads for the councils so
04:55the six councils in the Wannan area are actually receiving more funding to help with the roads there too
05:02My stance on Wannan's roads is they need assistance they need genuine funding whether that's through federal or state government allocations I'm not sure but they're actually in my section of the electorate the Ararat Shire is doing a pretty good job
05:24I think where we're being let down is on the major roads and highways there's also areas of replacement infrastructure needed like the Port Ferry Bridge over the Moyne we can do better and there's in fact a need for seven million dollars to do that job
05:43I think where we can do that job
05:45I think where we can do that job
05:47I think where we can do that job
05:49I think where we can do that job
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05:53I think where we can do that job
05:55I think where we can do that job
05:57I think where we can do that job
05:59I think where we can do that job
06:01I think where we can do that job
06:03I think where we can do that job
06:05I think where we can do that job
06:07I think where we can do that job
06:09I think where we can do that job