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Bracks Government: We Will Never Fund Local Roads The Bracks Government has abandoned local councils and vowed never to provide funding for local roads, Shadow Minister for Country Victoria Philip Davis said today. By Philip Davis - 17th November 2005 - Back to News Minister for State and Regional Development John Brumby admitted to country Victorians this week that the Bracks Government had no intention of ever assisting local government with its never-ending list of roads maintenance issues.
"The State Government has never funded local roads and we don’t intend to put in place a mainstream local road funding program in the future." – John Brumby, ABC radio, 14 November 2005
"While local governments are able to seek assistance for road and bridge repairs through the Commonwealth’s Roads to Recovery (R2R) program, the Bracks Government has done nothing to assist councils who struggle to keep their infrastructure in good condition," Mr Davis said.
"Unlike this Labor government, which prefers to pretend there are no problems with local roads, the Liberal Party is committed to assisting local councils with their infrastructure issues.
"In September, the Liberal Party released its Plan for Better and Safer Roads for Victoria, which will inject an extra $127 million into country roads and bridges."
Under a Liberal Government, Commonwealth R2R funding will be matched by the State Government, beginning 1 January 2008.
"This is unprecedented action by the Liberal Party to tackle the problem of local road infrastructure falling into worse repair because of funding restraints," Mr Davis said.
"In addition to the $127 million available to country councils, an extra $29 million will also be provided for metropolitan councils.
"But perhaps the most important aspect of this funding policy is that local communities will be able to decide which projects get precedence, rather than the Bracks Government telling local residents which projects it thinks should get priority funding.
"Why should some bureaucrats in Spring Street, who have probably never driven on these roads and bridges, tell country Victorians which roads should be repaired before others?
"Never before has a Victorian State Government taken responsibility in assisting local government with its roads and bridges and put the power back into the community.
"It’s a pity the Bracks Government fails to recognise this need and instead chooses to ignoring country roads and bridges."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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