July 13, 2026 – 00:01 Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. TOTOTO Victoria’s crumbling roads will receive a $5 billion funding boost that will remove 1 million potholes under the Coalition’s election commitment to rebuild the state’s road maintenance programme. With less
Victoria’s crumbling roads will receive a $5 billion funding boost that will remove 1 million potholes under the Coalition’s election commitment to rebuild the state’s road maintenance programme.
With less than five months to go until the state election, Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and Nationals leader Danny O’Brien will on Monday unveil an election commitment they say will increase Victoria’s road maintenance budget by 25 per cent on current spending levels.
As part of the policy, the Coalition will promise to fix the worst potholes across the state, with the bitumen bombing to be overseen by a new division within the Department of Transport and Planning. Funds will also be allocated to clean drains, mow grass and remove graffiti.
Ahead of the election, the Coalition is seeking to capitalize on growing anger in regional areas over deteriorating roads across the state, arguing the crumbling network is both a safety issue and a cost of living burden as motorists face costly repairs.
Wilson, who is touring the 88 House electorates, said the state’s roads were filled with dangerous potholes that are causing damage to vehicles.
“Drivers should not be the ones footing the bill for burst tyres, slashed rims and worse, because Jacinta Allan and the Labor Party can’t get the basics right,” Wilson said.
In 1999, rural electorates strongly opposed the Coalition. Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett was dumped in the election and Labor won eight seats in regional Victoria, including Seymour, Bendigo East, Ripon and Ballarat East and West.
But after more than a decade in government, Labour’s popularity is waning, fueled by growing frustration in regional areas over deteriorating roads, poor services and long-standing concerns about the cost of living.
In the May budget, Allan’s government committed $1 billion to road maintenance, which it said would repair 200,000 potholes.
However, budget documents revealed that the government has set a target of repairing 74,000 square meters of regional roads this financial year, up from 95,000 square meters the previous year and significantly below the 566,000 square meters completed in 2024-25.
Labor argues these figures reflect a move away from short-term patchwork and a move towards longer-term resurfacing and rehabilitation work, although the number of resurfacing works planned for this financial year is also expected to decline.
The Coalition’s commitment comes as Victoria’s peak agricultural body last week launched a campaign to encourage regional drivers to document and report potholes and road hazards.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Ryan Milgate said the reports would help demonstrate the extent of the state’s deteriorating roads, which he described as “the worst they have ever been”.
“Many are literally falling apart and some are straight up death traps,” Milgate said.
Earlier this month, police were forced to close a lane on the Hume Highway north of Seymour after a large pothole caused serious damage to the tires of a number of cars.
The town of Whittlesea, which encompasses the suburbs of Epping, Mernda and Whittlesea has also identified more than 1,000 defects on its state highway network alone, blaming the Department of Transport and Planning for deteriorating conditions.
As part of the Coalition’s election promise, it will also demand greater accountability from the department and contractors through a review of building standards and maintenance contracts.
O’Brien, who is also shadow minister for highways and road safety, stopped last week to help a P-plater who suffered tire damage after hitting a pothole on the Goulburn Valley Highway. He said the state’s highways had become “goat trails.”
“Victorians are fed up with half-hearted patching jobs that quickly fall apart,” Mr O’Brien said.
He said regional areas received less than 12 per cent of infrastructure spending, despite representing 25 per cent of the state’s population.
The Coalition pledge comes a day after the Allan government revealed its plan to crack down on unlicensed used car dealers and odometer tampering after an investigation revealed nearly one in three sampled used cars advertised online had their odometers behind by at least 25,000 kilometres.
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