TWO State Government members of parliament have raised the ire of country MPs and rural people with their erroneous claims this week regarding the conditions of country roads.

Roads and Road Safety minister, Ben Carroll told parliament on Tuesday that accidents on the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road in the five years to December 2020 had not been caused by poor road conditions.

Meanwhile, East Metropolitan MP Vicki Ward said that the hazardous potholed surfaces on country roads were “imagined fantasies”.

Minister Carroll was responding belatedly to an invitation extended back in February this year from South West Coast MP, Roma Britnell, to meet local residents and experience the poor conditions on the road firsthand.

Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road is a 75-kilometre carriageway gazetted for B-double and road train use that is the responsibility of the government but involves cooperation with the Glenelg and Moyne Shires for maintenance and upgrades.

It is a vital link to the Port of Portland used daily by grain, livestock, and dairy tankers, as well as school buses and local traffic.

Before being expelled from question time in February, and during minister Carroll’s ministerial statement regarding road expenditure, Ms Britnell had urged the minister “to be the one with the fortitude” to fix the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road, and “fix it properly”.

“I ask the minister: come with me, jump in my car and I will take you on this road,” she said.

“You will not believe your eyes.”

However, in his response to Ms Britnell this week, minister Carroll said that the police reports regarding accidents on the narrow section of the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road did not reference road conditions as the cause of the crashes.

He went on to state, however, that since 2019, the Department of Transport had completed several resurfacing and repair projects on the road.

“The Department is undertaking detailed scope, design and costings to examine what further works are possible to support the current and future vehicle numbers and types,” he said.

However, an even more extraordinary comment was made during parliamentary debate this week, by city MP, Vicki Ward who said that country drivers who complain that dangerous potholes are hazards on the rural road network, are living in “imagined fantasies”.

Ms Ward, an east metropolitan MP, levelled the accusation at country drivers during parliamentary debate on Tuesday night in a tirade about road safety.

Roads shadow minister, and country MP, Steph Ryan said the comments reflected the city-centric mantra of the government.

“Labor MPs clearly don’t spend a lot of time beyond Melbourne’s tram tracks if they think crumbling road shoulders, dangerously rough surfaces and yawning potholes are the height of safety,” she said.

Adam Fry of Fry Cartage and Contracting in Broadwater, who’s family live and operate multiple businesses along the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road, was disappointed by the Roads and Road Safety minister’s response this week.

“That’s a bit of a joke really,” he said.

“He (the minister) really does need to get out of the city and go for a drive and see what it’s actually like.”