Since the 2017 election, Metronet has been a priority project for the Labor Government.

Initially budgeted at $2.5 billion, the actual cost is now over $13 billion.

This record cost blowout has forced the Labor Government to divert funding from other essential services, such as health, housing, law and order, and cost-of-living relief to cover the shortfall in funding.

Most importantly, it has diverted funds from other transport projects, including vital upgrades to regional roads.

In 2024, 186 people died on WA’s roads, making it the second-highest annual toll in the past 10 years.

Regional roads record a fatality rate of 18.7 per 100,000 people, compared with just 2.84 per 100,000 in metropolitan areas.

Of these devastating incidents, 70 per cent are caused by run-offs or head-on collisions.

Since the introduction of WA Labor’s ‘Driving Change: Road Strategy 2020-2030’, deaths on our roads have continued to rise.

Labor has not flagged any revision of this obviously failing strategy.

With many industries, tourists, and Western Australian workers relying on our regional roads every day, we must ensure a commonsense investment in these roads going forward.

The WA Liberals know Western Australian lives deserve real change on our roads.

We cannot continue to see road fatalities on the scale that we saw in 2024.

Western Australia needs a plan that aims to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on regional roads, which have a significantly higher death toll compared with metropolitan areas.

Only a WA Liberal Government will prioritise it.

The WA Liberals believe in practical steps, backed by experts to keep more Western Australians safe on our roads.

While WA Labor has allocated $20 million to regional projects, this does not begin to address the growing road toll or reach their Government’s own road trauma target – a 50 to 70 per cent reduction.

A WA Liberal Government will commit $100 million to address issues on local government-controlled regional roads that have led to fatalities and serious accidents.

This funding will allow for road modifications in areas controlled by local councils, in line with improvements to State regional road infrastructure.

Funding will allow for simple remedies, such as sealing road shoulders, incorporating audible edge lines, and improving centre line markings.

These are proven treatments to reduce single-vehicle run-off crashes and head-on crashes.

We will also continue to work with the Federal Government to advocate for further funding for regional roads and safety upgrades for hotspots.

This approach would significantly expand the program’s impact, allowing for even greater investment in critical infrastructure upgrades across WA.

Every person killed on WA roads is someone’s family, friend, and loved one – one person is one person too many.

Western Australians deserve a government dedicated to the highest standard of care on our roads, ensuring that regular upgrades are undertaken to improve road infrastructure.

Only the WA Liberal Party is committed to long-term investment to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on regional roads.