General News
6 March, 2025
Regions left behind in federal cash splash, VFF says
THE Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has said regional Victoria has been left abandoned in the wake of the state and federal government’s city-centric cash splash announced last week.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last Wednesday announced a $3.3 billion investment in to Victoria through an additional $2 billion (on top of a previous $5 billion) in funding to deliver the Melbourne Airport Rail and a $1.2 billion investment for a Suburban Road Blitz for works in key growth areas for Melbourne.
The announcement drew frustration from VFF president Brett Hosking, who said decision makers were playing politics and prioritising votes ahead of fixing genuine issues across Victoria.
He called the announcement “a genuine slap in the face” for those living outside of Melbourne.
“Both the Commonwealth and Victorian governments are proving they have no interest in taking action to fix roads outside of marginal electorates,” Mr Hosking said.
“This funding announcement was billed as ‘Victoria’s fair share.’ It should be rebranded as ‘Melbourne’s fair share’, as there is little to smile about from a regional Victorian’s perspective.
“Country roads are crumbling and it’s not only costing tens of millions in lost productivity, tragically people are paying for it with their lives.
“Just recently I called on decision makers to urgently increase funding into our regional roads in the wake of a soaring regional road toll.
“That’s clearly fallen on deaf ears and to be honest it’s a disgrace.”
Mr Hosking said an additional announcement of a business case to investigate upgrading key roads and structures across the High Productivity Vehicle Network also showed a disconnect.
“The $20 million (50:50 federal and state funding) announced for a business case in to improving high productivity freight vehicle access is another case of government spending money not to make decisions or pick up a shovel,” he said.
Mr Hosking said those outside of Melbourne who feel they are being treated as second-class citizens when it comes to receiving a fair slice of funding.
“For over a decade now, regional Victoria has been neglected and we won’t accept it any longer,” he said.
“It’s not a matter of crying poor, just a matter of fairness and we’re clearly getting the rough end of the stick.
“Regional Victoria’s population is roughly on par with a city the size of Adelaide and we are Australia’s agriculture economic powerhouse.
“We can’t grow without investment and we’re not getting it.
“We’ll be asking for an urgent please explain from both levels of government regarding this announcement.”