State Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh says government agency Regional Roads Victoria has been scrapped, in what he describes as just the “latest blow” to country motorists.
Mr Walsh said the RRV Facebook page had not been updated since last year and its website had “vanished” with it now redirected to Transport Victoria.
But a Victorian Government spokesperson said all the functions of Regional Roads Victoria would remain the same under the Transport Victoria banner.
“We have the same number of dedicated regional staff working as part of Transport Victoria,” the spokesperson said.
“While Danny O’Brien and Peter Walsh waste their time with Facebook conspiracy theories, we’re getting on with delivering record investment to maintain regional Victorian roads.”
A total $964 million is being invested into maintaining the state’s road networks this year, with the majority of the funding going to regional roads, the spokesperson said.
But Mr Walsh said the state’s road maintenance budget was 16 per cent less than in 2020, even before accounting for inflation and rising costs since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To now say regional Victoria will continue to get the support and attention it receives — just under another name — is a classic shell game tactic where you have to try and follow the bouncing ball,” he said.
RRV was established in 2018 as a dedicated country roads division of VicRoads.
In 2019, VicRoads and Public Transport Victoria were merged to form the Department of Transport, which later became the Department of Transport and Planning.
The spokesperson said the Transport Victoria website was launched this year to make accessing information about the state’s road networks easier following department changes and mergers.