Page 2974 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 12 October 2022

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(2) calls on the ACT Government to:

(a) investigate what changes must be made to the road maintenance approach to improve the state of ACT roads;

(b) provide residents with a plan to reduce the amount of ratepayer’s money spent on pothole damage claims; and

I am sure that, like me, many members of this place have received many representations from constituents about potholes—on the number of them, the size of them and the depth of them. My motion today calls on this Labor-Greens government to investigate what changes need to be made to the road maintenance approach to improve the state of our ACT roads. It calls on the government to provide residents with a plan to reduce the amount of ratepayers’ money spent on vehicle damage claims caused by potholes. Finally, it calls on the Labor-Greens government to publicly announce these findings and details of their implementation by December.

There has been significant community concern about potholes on ACT roads. Mr Deputy Speaker, you would be hard-pressed to find a Canberran at the moment who has not hit a pothole or perhaps swerved around one. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who did not have a story about a particular pothole or have a so-called favourite pothole that they see occur over and over again.

Not only are they an eyesore; it has got to the point where it is downright dangerous, and a driving hazard for motorists. People are not just losing hubcaps anymore; they are losing tyres, they are breaking rims and they are getting other damage to their vehicles. Sometimes drivers swerve suddenly to dodge potholes, and this is dangerous. Sometimes drivers drive very slowly at night to try to see potholes, and this, too, can be dangerous—driving well below the speed limit.

On that note, I would urge everyone to drive very safely. Make sure that you leave a good distance between your car and the car in front, and do not swerve out into oncoming traffic or traffic in the lane next to you. Beneath that road safety message, I do not think it is a big ask for Canberrans to expect safe and accessible roads, given the rates that we pay. Providing safe and accessible roads is a basic municipal service that the ACT government, as a local council, should be providing. It is a basic municipal service and it is not being delivered.

I know that the minister will get up shortly and talk about the rain, the unprecedented rain, and how we on this side of the chamber do not understand that all of these potholes are caused by the rain we have been experiencing. Canberrans know, and we know, that rain exacerbates potholes, but the number and severity of potholes point to a lack of maintenance.

I would like to thank our road crews, who are out in difficult conditions. They are out there, day and night, in the rain. The other night, when I was coming home from Gungahlin—I think it was Friday night—it was raining at the time, and there were road crews out fixing a pothole. They are working under difficult conditions, but I do not believe that they are being resourced adequately.

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