RCV welcomes $500 m funding announcement
Rural Councils Victoria has welcomed the announcement today of more than $500 million in spending in non-metropolitan Victoria by the state and federal governments.
The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison said the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments will support construction jobs across Victoria by jointly investing an additional $525 million to deliver shovel-ready infrastructure projects and urgent road safety upgrades.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the Federal government was providing an additional $178.2 million towards the Regional Rail Revival package in Victoria, bringing the total Australian Government contribution to this project to $1.8 billion.
An additional $70.6 million was announced to complete the duplication of the Princes Highway East between Traralgon and Sale.
An additional $20 million will be put towards safety upgrades at 30 high-speed, high-risk rural intersections and $19.5 million towards pedestrian safety upgrades around schools.
About $10 million will be put towards upgrading the Western Freeway between Woodmans Hill to Dowling Road, Miners Rest.
Rural Councils Victoria Chair Cr Mary-Ann Brown said:
“The announcement goes some way towards meeting the $4 billion investment that Rural Councils Victoria believes will be needed to ensure rural communities survive and thrive in this post-bushfire, post-COVID-19 world.”
“It is good to see that the state and federal governments are investing in roads and bringing forward capital expenditure investments, which was part of RCV’s COVID-19 platform, which we launched in March.”
“Naturally, we would like to see further investments, including in local roads, rural broadband – to ensure remote communities and families remain connected – as well as continued support for jobs, job creation and rural businesses.”
