Politics & Council
11 February, 2026
Cash injection push to ‘solve pothole riddle’
REGIONAL areas continues to be riddled by new potholes, Victorian Farmers’ Federation president Brett Hosking said.
“The tragic reality is you are much more likely to lose your life when driving on country roads when compared to driving in the city,” he said on Tuesday.
“Drivers are expected to maintain road worthy cars. It’s time for cars to drive car worthy roads to ensure drivers aren’t playing a daily game of roads roulette.
“There can be no doubting that the continued underfunding and total neglect of our regional roads is costing lives. We will never accept this and the buck must stop with the government,” Mr Hosking said.
The VFF has called for a sustained and future thinking plan to fix crumbling roadS and transport infrastructure, including $250 million to be provided to local councils to repair and upgrade local roads, with a focus on ensuring efficient ‘first and last mile’ access to farm businesses.
“This local road investment would need to be coupled with significant uplift in funding for state and federal-funded roads,” he said.
“The longer you ignore the problem, the worse it gets…and it can’t get much worse.”
“Not only are our roads a huge safety issue, they are a massive economic handbrake on Victoria. Everyone loses when we can’t efficiently move freight and the wear and tear on vehicles is sky-high.”