General News
17 July, 2026
The $5 billion pledge
OPPOSITION leader Jess Wilson has pledged $5 billion over four years to fix roads and potholes across the state if the Coalition is elected this November.
Ms Wilson was in Warrnambool early Monday morning to discuss her party’s funding pledge (an increase of 25 per cent on the current road funding budget, with the Allan Labor Government investing just shy of $1 billion in roads each year).
“We pledge to fix one million potholes over the next four years,” she said.
“We have seen the potholes, these craters that are making it unsafe for Victorians to drive on Victorian roads and we’ve all had enough. Regional Victoria has been neglected for so long, I hear it every day.
“Labor has a focus on patching potholes and we see what that results in. When it rains that just washes away and the potholes come right back and that’s why our announcement focuses on investing in repairing and fixing our roads, ensuring that we have a preventative maintenance program that looks at resealing our roads and fixing our roads properly.
“We need to ensure that everyone is safe when driving on our roads.”
Ms Wilson said she had been told that up to a dozen people each week were coming to Baulch’s Bridgestone Tyre Service to have their tyres and rims fixed, costing thousands of dollars to their household budget “and that’s just not fair.”
Co-owner of the tyre service, Jamie Baulch, reached out to Ms Wilson on Instagram inviting her to visit his business and see firsthand the damage being caused by deteriorating south west roads.
“I’m sick of being the bearer of bad news to so many families who simply can’t afford these repairs,” Mr Baulch said.
“We have plenty of customers leaving here each week with bills amounting to thousands of dollars – for one customer that was more than $9,000.
“We had one customer damage two rims and two tyres. This is by far the worst winter we’ve seen in terms of damage caused by potholes.”
Ms Wilson was joined on Monday morning by Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell, Polwarth MP Richard Riordan, Member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur, and Nationals Leader and Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety Danny O’Brien.
“We intend to reduce the number of potholes in the medium to long term and that’s why we will do preventative maintenance to keep the water out and to stop the potholes forming in the first place,” Mr O’Brien said.
“We will continue to patch them in the short term but our longer term aim is to ensure our roads are in good condition and are safe for all road users.
“Our proposed $5 billion plan to repair and rebuild Victoria’s roads will include eliminating one million potholes and re-establishing a planned, preventative road maintenance program. Our roads, including many across the western district, are disgraceful and regional Victorians deserve so much better.”
