Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie has called on Premier Daniel Andrews and the Victorian Government to “stump up the funding” for stage one of the Shepparton bypass.
Senator McKenzie, the Shadow Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Minister, was in Shepparton with Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell and Nationals candidate for the state seat of Shepparton District Kim O’Keeffe on Wednesday, November 2, to call out inaction on the project.
Senator McKenzie said the former Coalition Government committed $208 million to stage one of the project for an 80-20 split with the state government.
Major Road Projects Victoria completed a business case for the project in 2020 and submitted it to the Federal Government.
“The Shepparton bypass is a vital infrastructure project that will benefit the amenity of the community but also support the economic growth for the entire Goulburn Valley region,” Senator McKenzie said.
“Now it’s up to state and federal governments, irrespective of their colour, to recognise that this community needs the bypass because Shepparton is going to grow and grow.”
State Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed said the $208 million figure put up by the former Federal Government “simply didn’t cut it”.
“It was done before the business case was released so there was no understanding of what the final cost would be at that stage,” she said.
“As Shepparton’s representative I was successful in getting $10 million allocated by the state government to do the business case ... it was completed and handed to the Federal Government well over a year ago now.
“It sat on someone’s desk for a very long time with no activity and the cost has clearly blown out.
“It’s now a case of trying to highlight to the Federal Labor government and the state Labor government that this is a priority project for our region,” she said.
There hasn’t been a commitment to fund the bypass from any parties at a state level so far, something Ms O’Keeffe said she was lobbying for.
“We are the only regional city that does not have a bypass so it’s time to bring Greater Shepparton up to the current time so we can do what we need to do as a city, as a region,” she said.
“It’s disgusting to think we have not been supported as a regional city and we contribute so much.”
Liberal candidate for the state seat of Shepparton District Cheryl Hammer said she was also fighting hard to secure funding for the project.
“I have been a strong advocate on the need for a Shepparton bypass,” she said.
All three candidates said the recent floods had shown how important an additional river crossing was for Shepparton and Mooroopna after the causeway closure separated the two towns.
On Tuesday, a Victorian Government spokesperson said the bypass was “a Liberal-National Commonwealth election promise that it broke”.
They said the Federal Government was “free to release” the business case at any time.
The bypass has been identified as a key election priority by Greater Shepparton City Council ahead of the November 26 Victorian election.