Dr WEBSTER (Mallee) (16:45): I rise today to speak on an issue that strikes at the very heart of regional Australia: our roads, our livelihoods and our way of life. The Albanese Labor government has quietly launched a proposal to slash the default speed limit on regional roads from 100 kilometres per hour to as low as 70 kilometres. Let me be clear: this is not a road safety initiative. It is lazy, shortsighted policy that punishes regional Australians for the government's failure to maintain our rural roads.

This proposal was buried in a consultation process that began on 29 September without a press release, without public engagement and with an abysmally short 28-day window for feedback. It was only after strong pressure from the coalition that the government reluctantly extended the consultation to the standard 42 days. Even then, the extension was made quietly with no announcement—just a subtle change on the departmental website. This is not how good policy is made. This is not how you treat Australian people who are keeping our country moving.

Let's be honest about what this proposal really means. It means longer travel times for families trying to get their kids to school, to sport or to the doctor. It means longer travel times and higher freight costs for farmers and small businesses already doing it tough. It means regional tourism takes another hit, as visitors are deterred by longer and slower journeys. And for what? Because the government can't be bothered to fix rural roads. Instead of investing in proper maintenance—line marking, road shoulders, rumble strips, pothole repairs—Labor's solution is to simply slow everyone down. It's a bandaid on a gaping word. It's the easy way out.

While the government claims this is about safety, the truth is more ideological. Deep in the detail of the consultation documents, the true motivations for this proposal are revealed: reducing fuel consumption and—guess what—cutting emissions. Now I ask, since when did slowing down regional Australia become foundational to Australia's climate policy? It's clear that Minister Bowen's fingerprints are all over this. Having failed to meet his own unattainable emissions targets, he's now looking for shortcuts, literally. But regional Australians should not be made the scapegoats of Labor's desperate scramble to fudge the numbers. This is not just about speed limits; it's about priorities. And Labor's priorities are clearly to cut funding to the regions, shifting responsibility from their own emission reduction failings, increasing our road toll on their own watch and then hoping no-one notices.

Let's look at the facts. The government has cut the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program from July next year. They've cut Commonwealth funding for regional road projects from 80 per cent to 50 per cent. They've scrapped the Roads of Strategic Importance program. Across the nation, more than $30 billion in infrastructure projects have been cancelled, delayed or cut. In New South Wales alone, nearly $6 billion is gone. In Victoria, it's $5.5 billion. In Queensland, it's almost $3 billion. And the list goes on. Regional Australians are not asking for much. They're asking for safe roads. They're asking for fair funding. They're asking to be heard. We do not want to see a single life lost on our roads, but reducing speed limits without fixing roads is not the answer. It's a lazy substitute for real investment and real leadership.

So today I call on the government to abandon this misguided proposal. I urge every transport operator, every farmer, every small-business owner and regional council to make their voices heard before the consultation closes on 10 November. We are sending a clear message: regional Australians want and deserve safer roads, not slower roads. We want real solutions, not ideological shortcuts. And, above all, we want a government that listens, invests and respects the people who keep this country running.