Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This month, my electorate of Wannon had delivered much-needed funding to rebuild and repair vital bridges and road infrastructure. Roads and bridges, as many rural members are aware, are imperative to ensuring that local communities stay connected, business can grow and people can have access to services. Sadly, these vital pieces of infrastructure are often neglected by state governments.

This is why the coalition government has delivered a further $4.6 million in funding to Wannon as part of the Bridges Renewal Program. The Bridges Renewal Program is designed to bolster the productivity of Australia's local bridges and give councils the support they need to better service communities and drive greater efficiency in road freight and traffic movement.

In Wannon this will mean that bridges that have become dangerous or unusable will be refurbished. It will mean that the Castle Carey Road Bridge in Corangamite Shire, a one-lane timber bridge with a limited loading capacity, will be replaced with a two-lane concrete bridge with nearly double the loading capacity.

As the Corangamite Shire mayor has said, 'The federal government should be thanked for this contribution that will assist in ensuring the project can commence.' It is hoped that the state government will also see these benefits and fund it as well.

This is an excellent program, one that the federal government should be commended for supporting and one that we need the state governments to commend as well.