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Liberals To Upgrade 4Wd Tracks & Improve SafetyNeglected four-wheel-drive access tracks in national parks and state forests will be upgraded and driver training provided under a Liberal Government, Shadow Minister for Country Victoria Philip Davis said today. By Parliament of Victoria - 14th November 2006 - Back to News Mr Davis said maintenance of four-wheel-drive access tracks in parks and state forests was imperative for the continued and safe use by Parks Victoria and Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) personnel, emergency services and recreational vehicles.
After seven years of neglect, the Bracks Government has now made election promises 14 days out from the poll which simply cannot be believed, he said.
In contrast, the Liberal Party has always supported recreational four-wheel-driving and announced significant initiatives which will benefit the four-wheel-driving community earlier this year.
The Bracks Government has cut funding for four-wheel-drive track maintenance by $2.2 million per year over the past seven years.
Labor’s current funding allocation of only $400,000 per year each from Parks Victoria and DSE for track maintenance is putting lives at risk and forcing volunteers from Four Wheel Drive Victoria to spend more than 3000 hours clearing tracks after storms last year.
Letting access tracks fall into disrepair is not only inconvenient for those who use them, but a serious safety issue, especially during search and rescue operations, bushfires and other emergencies.
A Liberal Government will continue all the existing track access programs, however will deal with the neglect under Labor.
"First, the maintenance backlog created by the inaction of the Bracks Labor Government must be addressed," Mr Davis said.
"A Liberal Government will dedicate an additional $1.5 million per year for this purpose. In addition, we will then ensure these tracks are properly maintained by doubling the present Parks Victoria and DSE combined funding to $1.6 million per year.
"This will bring the total to $3.1 million per year available to get these four-wheel-drive access tracks up to standard and keep them that way."
The Four Wheel Drive Advisory Committee would continue to provide track maintenance advice such as track conditions, identifying maintenance priorities and allocation of maintenance funding under a Liberal Government.
Mr Davis said a Liberal Government would allocate $2 million per year from the Traffic Accident Commission (TAC) to implement educational and information campaigns aimed to better equip four-wheel-drive owners about how to drive their vehicles safely in all conditions and terrain.
"We will also work with Four Wheel Drive Victoria to establish specific four-wheel-driver education courses for all owners of registered four-wheel-drives in conjunction with existing and new proposed driver education centres."
(For further information see the Country Victoria policy at www.vic.liberal.org.au)
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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