Deaths spark funding furore

Political row over highways

TWO more Victorian holidaymakers have been killed on Tasmania’s roads as pressure builds on the federal and state governments to spend promised highway funding now to reduce the road toll.

A man and woman from Victoria died on Monday after their car hit a truck as they overtook another vehicle on the Midland Highway, which has long been earmarked to become a full four-lane thoroughfare. Their deaths, just south of Campbell Town, follow a fatal crash at Exton on the Bass Highway just two weeks ago when two pastors from Melbourne were killed and their three children orphaned.

Police said they are continuing the process of formally identifying the two people killed on Monday.

The double fatality has brought Tasmania’s road toll to 20 so far this year – a figure Assistant Police Commissioner Jonathan Higgins has called “totally unacceptable”.

Labor Senator Anne Urquhart said it was now time to urgently bring forward promised funding and roadworks on the Midland and Bass highways.

“We asked questions about the timelines for these projects in budget estimates in May. In relation to the Bass Highway works between Devonport and Launceston, tenders for contractors to carry out the work will not be called until 2023,” she said.

“People are dying now and this money was first promised in 2018-19.

“It seems to be a case of delays in money coming through from Canberra and the state government getting on with the job.”

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Michael Ferguson said Senator Urquhart’s attempt to link the deaths with road funding “is beneath contempt”.

“Senator Urquhart’s grubby commentary has pre-empted any public statement by Tasmania Police on the likely cause of the accident,’’ Mr Ferguson said.

“Senator Urquhart should be aware that the $565m, 10year Midland Highway Action Plan is progressing ahead of schedule with two-thirds (103km out of 153km) now complete.

“On the Bass Highway, the Gutwein and Morrison governments … are jointly investing $280m into a 10 year Action plan between Launceston and Marrawah.”

Assistant Commissioner Higgins said four new mobile speed cameras would be coming online soon and they would go to crash black spots.