VICROADS BRIEFING
Report by Mark Wagner
On the 15th July 2003 Mark Wagner and Pat Kerr attended a VicRoads Industry Briefing Night on behalf of the CMPA. This meeting was organised by VicRoads primarily as an industry briefing for the road building and associated industries to outline projects and goals for the 2003-04 financial year.
The meeting provided an opportunity for those involved to meet informally, and then hear speeches from the Minister for Transport, Mr Peter Batchelor and the CEO VicRoads, Mr David Anderson.
The evening commenced with an introduction and a welcome made by Mr Gerry Liddle, Director of Major Projects.
The Minister’s speech referred to the major road infrastructure projects and highlighted the Mitcham-Frankston Freeway, Hallam Bypass and the Calder Highway upgrade.
Mr Batchelor noted that it was a credit to the industry that the Hallam Bypass was running under budget and ahead of the projected completion date.
The funding difficulties with the Mitcham Frankston Freeway in relation to the Federal Government were presented and the point was made that the $400 million federal funding potentially saved by the establishment of a tollway should filter back into Victorian projects.
The relationship of Victorian road funding as compared to fuel tax suggested that Victorians are not treated equitably as far as Federal road funding goes. All concerned should be using whatever influence they had to exert pressure for road projects because Victoria was not using the additional $400 million.
The Minister also pointed out that the additions to registration costs would lead to an average increase of $60 million per year for four years and would go back into road funding.
The CEO, Mr David Anderson, was very keen for all parties to liaise after the speeches and pointed out that there was a wide range of VicRoads staff on hand to discuss matters.
He pointed out that most projects other than the major ones discussed would be on a list supplied (attachment to this report). The future for project announcements is the VicRoads web page (www.vicroads.vic.gov.au). This is basically the “hub” for announcements for new work, tenders received and tenders awarded.
The CEO spoke of the relationship between VicRoads and the contractors, and discussed how safety was a common goal of the organisation.
We noted that VicRoads and the contractors still have a very close relationship, both formally and informally during the course of the evening.
To me what came out of the evening is that although commercially we are normally one step away from VicRoads we need to have a presence as major suppliers to the road building industry. No members of the CMPA should feel any less important than any other within the extractive industries due to the huge road network that always needs revamping and maintenance. Due to strategic localities our part in the industry is vital for long term permanent supply.
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