Farmers are calling on the government to take action on our road network as infrastructure continues to crumble under pressure from extreme weather events.
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NSW Farmers president Xavier Martin said farmers across the state were facing "significant" transport hurdles due to thousands of kilometres of rural roads being in "desperate" need of repair.
"Repairing our rural road infrastructure is essential to keeping our rural communities alive and moving the food and fibre that fuels our nation," Mr Martin said.
"Recent rain events certainly haven't helped the state of NSW's infrastructure, and we're now facing a wrecked road to recovery for many regional roads and bridges."
State and federal governments on both sides of the aisle have provided several rounds of funding for rural road repair in response to years of storms and flood damage.
"The NSW Government is providing $670 million in much-needed funding to regional councils which have been hard hit by severe weather and natural disasters," a Transport for NSW spokesperson told the Leader.
"The Regional Emergency Road Repair Fund ($390 million) and the regional portion ($280 million) of the Regional and Local Road Repair Program are NSW Government funded programs that support councils across regional NSW to fix damaged roads and ensures the road network that our regional communities rely on every day is dependable and safe."
We cant stop natural disasters from happening, but we need to do everything we can to minimise their impacts and help get communities back on their feet as quickly as possible.
- Transport for NSW
But the NSW Farmers president said the funds provided weren't keeping pace with the skyrocketing scale of damage to regional roads, leaving rural residents falling into the cracks.
"We're talking billions, not millions, when it comes to what we need to get our local, state and national roads and bridges back on track," Mr Martin said.
A government minister told the Leader work was already underway to surpass that billion-dollar figure.
The billion-dollar solution
Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Development Catherine King said the Albanese Government was committed to strengthening rural and regional road networks.
"Working with the NSW Government, we are delivering a range of programs to repair disaster-impacted roads and enhance the integrity of our transport networks for better freight travel and commuter connections," Ms King said.
"We are improving road safety by progressively growing Roads to Recovery funding so it doubles to $1 billion per year and increasing the Road Black Spot program from $110 million to $150 million per year."
The minister also pointed to the government's Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, which was given a $250 million boost in the Albanese government's first federal budget in October 2023.
The government is also looking at long-term improvements, promising $22.3 billion worth of NSW projects in the next 10 years.
Next stop, New England
Projects funded through the current round of the Roads to Recovery program are set to be delivered by June 2025, though Tamworth mayor Russell Webb said they could not come soon enough.
Cr Webb said the road network in the northern NSW had deteriorated to the point where storm-damaged roads were causing thousands of dollars in damage to vehicles.
"We need significant funding for roads across the nation and particularly the state of NSW. There's been funding shortfalls for many years now and it's biting us on the backside," Cr Webb said.
"With the way the funding mechanisms are currently working, there is never going to be enough money to fix the roads."
The Tamworth mayor says he looks forward to the Australian Government putting its money where its mouth is on the Roads to Recovery program and will keeping a close eye on the federal budget releasing next month.
Cr Webb also said the new Tamworth Intermodal Freight Facility would certainly help farmers deliver goods to major transport hubs like Newcastle and Sydney, but local farmers were far from being able to depend solely on rail for all their shipping needs.
"Rail is a very important part of the transportation network ... but for farmers to deliver their food and fibre from their gate to receival points there is a huge amount of road work that needs to be done," he said.