Rural Road Safety Month

The Hon. B.R. HOOD (17:28): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes that September is Rural Road Safety Month;

2. Realises that rural road crashes account for more than 65 per cent of the Australian road toll;

3. Thanks the Australian Road Safety Foundation for the work they put into their annual campaign to spread awareness;

4. Commends the former Marshall Liberal government for injecting an enormous amount of money towards upgrading rural and regional roads; and

5. Calls on the Malinauskas government to continue that investment in upgrading our rural and regional roads.

It is a privilege to stand today to move this motion that recognises September as Rural Road Safety Month. I am sure there are not many people in this room who have not been in some way touched by the road toll or have had people close to them who have been injured on our roads, even more so from a rural and regional perspective. We know that rural road crashes account for more than 65 per cent of Australia's road toll.

I congratulate the Australian Road Safety Foundation as it launches its rural road safety campaign to raise awareness about the additional risks that drivers face when travelling on rural and remote roads across this country. The rate of serious injuries is almost double those that occur in major cities. The ARSF rightly points out that on rural roads the risks are real. These roads are long, they are unforgiving, and you are far from help if you get stuck. We know that, because of our backlog of road maintenance, these roads, their shoulders, the conditions of these roads, are only continuing to get worse.

As a dad of an 18 year old who likes to go and visit her friends outside of the Mount Gambier area, I know that my wife, Elle, and I are very concerned when Neave hits the road, and we always make sure that we give her an extra hug and tell her to be very, very careful and very, very sensible whenever she is out there. I know that every parent would be doing exactly the same.

Last year, 1,306 people were killed on Australian roads and 810 of them were on rural roads, which equates to almost two out of every three road incidents. In 2025, we have already reached 57 road fatalities, with 33 of them occurring in regional and rural areas. This is someone's mum, their dad, their son, their daughter, and it is heartbreaking. I had to sit with a mate when they had to hear the news that their brother had passed away in a road crash. It is devastating and it never ever leaves the families that have to endure that.

I reflect that we are told that our cars should be roadworthy in this state, but it is very important that our roads are car-worthy as well, because coming unstuck is not just maybe checking your mobile phone or doing the wrong thing in terms of drink driving; it can be because of the condition of the road. Just a momentary lapse of attention can mean the difference between getting home to see your family or not.

In regard to this motion, it does realise that rural road crashes account for more than 65 per cent of the road toll. It also commends the former Marshall Liberal government for injecting an enormous amount of money towards upgrading rural and regional roads. A significant amount of money was pumped into rural and regional roads under the former Marshall Liberal government, and I saw the result of that, most especially down in the South-East. It is disappointing that we have seen a pullback in regard to regional road safety projects from this current government.

The 2025-26 state budget committed $110 million to road safety; however, a mere $7.5 million of that has been dedicated to regional road safety infrastructure. In 2024, of the $310 million for funding for regional roads, $250 million was allocated to upgrade the South Eastern Freeway between Mount Barker and the city—hardly what you would call regional. Of course, those things need to be done, but if we are talking about funding for regional roads there needs to be an equitable amount getting put into ensuring that they are safe.

We also saw a whopping $40 million allocated towards a roundabout upgrade in Mount Barker, which came out of the regional road funding. Again, I love Mount Barker and have a few friends up there, but it is not particularly regional. We need to have dedicated investment into road maintenance in our regions. It should not take constantly banging on the minister's or government's door to ensure these things happen. It should not take having to spin up a forum and shine a light on these things to get some action on things like the Southern Ports Highway.

Almost a year ago to the day, I set up community forum in Beachport because the locals were just sick of the Southern Ports Highway being an absolute roller-coaster. Caravaners and tourists were essentially telling people to stay away, to not go on this road. I spun up that community forum. We had about 100 people in the room, and it was only then that the government said, 'Okay, we will chuck $18 million behind it to do something with that road.' I certainly thank the government for doing that, but it is a little bit too little a little bit too late. Road safety is a shared responsibility. It is incumbent on all levels of government to ensure that roads are maintained to minimise accidents occurring. Every time you get behind the wheel or use the road, you do hold your own life and someone else's life in your hands. I encourage everyone during September, during this Rural Road Safety Month, to look out for yourself and to look out for others.

I also want to do a quick shout-out to Darren Davis and Debbie Davis from the Get Home Safe Foundation. For years Debbie and Darren have been at the coalface of telling people about road safety, ensuring that people get home safe, and I was really proud to co-convene and chair the South-East Regional Road Safety Alliance with Darren. He is an absolute legend, and Debbie is an absolute legend as well. I thank them for their commitment to road safety and, again, I urge everyone during September—and, indeed, every month—to look out for yourself and look out for others on the road. Make sure you get home safely to see your family.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.