General News
27 October, 2025
Chaffey: "Speed limit reductions are NOT the solution to the electorate of Parkes’ poor roads"
To make a submission, visit https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/regulatory-impact-analysis-reduce-open-road-default-speed-limit
The Albanese Labor Government’s plan to slash speed limits on rural roads in poor condition is an insult to both the people of the Parkes electorate and the hard-working Councils that serve them, Federal Member for Parkes, Jamie Chaffey says.
Labor Minister Catherine King is proposing reducing speed limits on dirt, gravel or sealed roads in need of repair, in response to the worsening national road toll under this government.
“Minister King is right, regional roads are dangerous,” Mr Chaffey said. “This is a result of the continual and systematic under-funding of the Labor Government.
“It is unreasonable and unfair to again put the burden on the people of the Parkes electorate to make up for the government’s lack of support for regional New South Wales. Already, regional Australians face the challenges of distance that impacts on their health and their livelihoods.
“A look at NRMA figures shows that the road infrastructure backlog for the 20 councils in the Parkes electorate from 2017 to 2021 - the last four years of the Coalition Government – averaged $86.2 million.
“Roads grants over the past seven years have averaged $102.4 million. The end result of those last four years is that the roads funding was there ready to meet the needs. For the past three years of the Labor Government, the backlog figure has blown out to an average of $222.53 million in roads infrastructure each year across the Parkes electorate.
“The 20 councils across the electorate already struggling with limited rates bases and skyrocketing costs have also all suffered some form of natural disaster in the past three to four years, with the exception of Broken Hill. They have all had to apply for funding to fix their roads through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
“The amount of necessary funding that has been knocked back is staggering at about $150 million. Councils cannot meet these enormous costs, and they should not be expected to.
“Now, through these ridiculous stop-gap plan to no doubt cut funding further in the future and reduce speed limits basically says to our residents that they do not deserve the roads the rest of Australia has. It’s not on.
“I call on the Labor Government to fund the roads that are a lifeline in our outback and stop coming up with more ways to shift the burden to regional Australians.”
While the Coalition has called on the Labor Government to extend the looming 27 October deadline for local transport operators, small business, farmers and councils to make submissions to the Government’s consultation, Mr Chaffey is urging people to make a submissions about how their communities would be impacted by speed limit reductions on rural, regional and remote Australian roads.
