The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) says it will release details on December 6 of its $2 million national campaign aimed at boosting federal funding for roads.
ALGA president, John Ross, says councils throughout Australia are rallying to support the campaign.
As detailed in ATN online in mid-September, the campaign is designed to ensure the government understands there is a great need for action to improve urban, rural and regional roads, no matter which party is elected to power in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Ross says.
"On December 6, at the ALGA national general assembly in Canberra, we will release details of a comprehensive, apolitical campaign which will concentrate heavily on 52 federal seats where a margin of 5% or less exists between the parties.
"We will be leaving no stone unturned to ensure the alliance's voice is heard."
He says among the reasons the federal government's blasé attitude to road funding must change are:
- despite increased passenger and freight traffic, the Commonwealth's road funding contribution, in real terms, has been declining since 1993
- government taxes, including GST, total 47 cents per litre of petrol. Fuel excise accounts for 38 cents per litre, with the government returning only seven cents per litre to roads
- sub-standard roads are killing and maiming innocent Australians. The decline in road fatalities since the 1980s has stopped, corresponding with a real terms reduction in road funding. Estimates put the cost of road trauma to the Australian community at $6 billion per year.
- roads are used for 95% of urban passenger travel, 79% of rural passenger travel, 66% of urban public transport and 74% of freight transport
- research indicates a $1 billion investment in an improved road network will result in a $700 million annual stream of benefits to the Australian economy.
"When electors go to the ballot box next year, we will have ensured that the need for a boost in funding for Australia's roads is one of the most prominent pubic issues," Ross says.