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The 2025-26 Federal Budget has left South Australia’s regional road network high and dry, with no new funding to fix three key regional road corridors or progress a freight bypass.
The State’s peak motoring body has welcomed the funds flowing to complete the North South Corridor and $125 million for the Curtis Road Level Crossing removal project announced in the 2025-26 Federal Budget, but remains concerned about the lack of funding for regional roads.
The Federal Budget failed to deliver:
RAA Chief Executive Officer Nick Reade said while the investment in the North South Corridor and Curtis Road was welcomed, the Federal Government must invest in South Australia’s regional road network if South Australia is to reach the targets set out in the nation’s Road Safety Strategy to 2031.
“RAA has long called for the duplication of SA’s national highways including the Augusta, Sturt and Dukes Highway to improve road safety and save lives on our roads,” Mr Reade said.
“Unfortunately, there’s no money allocated in the Federal Budget to fix these potentially dangerous regional roads.
“The Augusta Highway recorded 43 deaths and 319 injures (97 serious and 222 minor) between 2014-2023 – making it one of the most dangerous regional corridors in South Australia.
“These three key regional corridors are also essential to help freight move around, not only South Australia, but Australia.
“The Augusta Highway connects the east and west of the country and is a nationally significant freight route.
“We’re also disappointed there was no commitment to address the decline in forecast fuel excise revenue that is used to fund our roads.
“Along with the AAA, RAA has been very vocal about the need for all motorists to pay their fair share to fund our roads.
“However, what’s more alarming is the Federal Budget documents show only 79% of the fuel excise revenue collected over the next four years will be spent on roads and infrastructure.
“That’s funding South Australia’s roads desperately need – particularly in our regions.”
Off the back of research showing 74% of RAA members are concerned about energy bills, RAA welcomed the extension of the government energy rebates and new disaster mitigation funding initiatives.
“Our members are telling us loud and clear that cost of living continues to cause them pain – so the extension of the energy rebate scheme is welcome news and will provide temporary relief for households,” Mr Reade said.
“We’re also pleased to see a bushfire community recovery and resilience program and look forward to working with the government about how that funding could be used to help protect homes, reduce risk and ease pressure on insurance premiums.”
The Federal Budget follows the Australian Automobile Association launch this week of its My Safety Counts campaign, which urges politicians to release the safety ratings given to Australian roads.
Like vehicles, roads across Australia are given star ratings by road safety experts – yet these ratings are not released to the public.
The My Safety Counts campaign calls for these star ratings to be released and used to guide funding decisions – so we can fix our most dangerous roads, not just those that benefit the Government of the day.
For more information visit the My Safety Counts website.