FROM THE EDITOR
ONE of the great scourges of our modern democratic system is that political parties view power as an end in itself, and not a means to an end.
Of course, governing is the end. Power is just the means to be able to govern.
We live in a state where the Labor government seems unwilling or incapable of performing the tasks required to effectively govern. Decision making is tortured and flawed, with the best outcomes taking a distant second place to political considerations.
Whether it is crime, cost-shifting or crumbling infrastructure, the result is that we live in a state where it is increasingly difficult for us to safely and effectively go about our lives.
We live in a state where the Liberal Party is too busy fighting among itself to perform the role that democracy requires of it; to be an “opposition”, offering a check to the operation of the government of the day.
The Liberal party currently hold only 20 of the 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. The bar has been set very low, yet they face the possibility of losing further seats at the next election due to their never ending internal squabbling.
We need to have a talk about many things in this state; rampant crime, cost shifting that is creating an increasing crisis as the state government abandons responsibilities, planning policy that strips us from having a say in what our future peninsula will look like, but today I want to talk about the state of the roads on the Mornington Peninsula.
Now, the Mornington Peninsula Shire is far from blameless here. Road responsibility is split between the state government (for the major roads) and the shire (for the minor roads).
The shire has taken steps by unanimously voting to adopt its Road Management Plan 2025; a framework for guiding inspection, maintenance, and repair of roads managed by the shire (Shire adopts updated Road Management Plan, The News 28/10/25).
We need to see that become meaningful action with appropriate funding to fix and maintain the roadways under their care.
What we’ve seen from the state government is a desperately degrading road system where many of the main roads across the peninsula are covered with potholes, with overgrown verges strewn with rubbish.
In a tourism area with eight million visitors a year, our roadways give out a distinctly third-world vibe.
Enough is enough. It is time to call it out and demand action.
Raising the deplorable condition of our state-managed roads with one of the state Labor MP’s offices this week, we received the response “send photos and locations”.
So send photos and locations we will.
We are beginning a campaign called “Pothole Of The Week” and we are asking for your help. Email in your pothole with a brief description of its location, and we will publish it.
Join us to pressure for change. Because staying quite is not enough. Email your “Pothole Of The Week” to: potw@mpnews.com.au
First published in the Mornington News – 18 November 2025
