STAFF WRITERS
NATIONALS Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, has used his first adjournment debate in Parliament to urge the state government to fast-track the rebuild of the Old Latrobe River Bridge at Tyers Road.
“In 2015, the Premier announced a new bridge for the town of Tyers as a matter of urgency. He said it was ‘long overdue’ and promised it would be ‘one of his first tasks,'” Mr Cameron said.
“Now, eight years later, not only are the people of Tyers still waiting for a new bridge, but the old bridge that gives them access into town has been closed since November.
“When the bridge is closed, public access to the town is cut off. A free shuttle bus designed to ‘connect communities to the public transport network’ does not help parents get their kids to school on time. It does not get residents to work on time. It does not help them access medical services. It does not solve the problem our selfless first responders face in accessing and responding to emergencies. It does not help ambulances transporting critically ill patients to hospital.”
Last week the state government posted an update to the Regional Roads Victoria website.
It said work to replace the bridge was ‘well underway’, but that Tyers Road at the Latrobe River Bridge ‘will remain closed until further notice’.
“At the bottom of the web page it mentions works are not scheduled to be complete until 2024,” Mr Cameron said.
“By the Andrews Government’s own admission, this is ‘frustrating.’ But frustrating doesn’t come close to articulating how justifiably angry the people of Tyers are.
“The Andrews Government lauds its own level crossing removal project on a weekly basis, boasting it has scrapped yet another dangerous crossing for the people of metropolitan Melbourne – 67 since 2019 to be exact.
“If the Andrews Government can remove 67 level crossings in Melbourne in less than four years, surely it can extend the same courtesy to the people of Tyers in regional Victoria who are simply asking for the swift restoration of a single bridge which was promised as a matter of urgency eight years ago.”
