A further $159 million has been added to the Regional Road Safety Program – crucial funds that will allow the roll-out of further safety upgrades to regional roads across Western Australia.
RAC General Manager External Relations Will Golsby said 9,000 kilometres of regional roads were expected to receive life-saving upgrades by mid-2023.
“We strongly welcome additional funding for the Regional Road Safety Program which will make our roads more forgiving and help address the devastating number of run-off road crashes that occur in regional WA,” Mr Golsby said.
However, the State Government has failed to freeze registration fees, increasing them by 3.8 per cent – while driver licence fees have also been hiked by 6.4 per cent.
“A freeze on registration fees would have cost the State Budget just $55 million in 2022/23, which is clearly achievable when you consider the $5.7 billion surplus,” Mr Golsby said.
“Vehicle registration fees have risen significantly over the past 10 years – far above the rate of inflation.”
RAC welcomes funding for electric and hydrogen vehicle subsidies and for more EV charging infrastructure, however does not support the State Government’s current plan to introduce a road user charge for EV drivers – which will come into effect in July 2027.
“We don’t support measures which may disincentivise the take-up of electric vehicles,” Mr Golsby said.
“Instead of standalone taxes on EVs, we need a nationally coordinated, evidence-based review of motoring taxation that considers all light vehicles while supporting the growth of EVs,” Mr Golsby said.
The closing balance in the Road Trauma Trust Account in this year’s budget is $50 million.
“Someone is killed or seriously injured on WA roads every five hours and last year our state had the worst road fatality rate in five years,” Mr Golsby said.
“We’re calling for any unallocated funds sitting idle in the Road Trauma Trust Account to be directed to life-saving priorities to prevent more lives being lost on our roads.”
The Budget also confirmed the Perth Parking Levy will have a closing balance of $167 million, signalling the need for a renewed focus on improving transport and pedestrian access to the Perth city centre.
ENDS
Media contact: RAC Media Team, 0401. 703. 719 or media@rac.com.au
