Regional Victoria receives 12 per cent of the state’s infrastructure spending despite being home to 25 per cent of the population, according to a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis of the 2025-26 state budget.
The PBO assessed 1414 projects valued at a combined $182.7 billion.
Of that, $105.1 billion, about 57.6 per cent was directed to metropolitan Victoria, while $22 billion, or 12 per cent, went to regional areas.
A further $55.6 billion, or 30.4 per cent, could not be categorised as exclusively metropolitan or regional, covering statewide projects and similar expenditure.
On a per-person basis, metropolitan Victorians receive $19,338 in infrastructure investment compared to $12,348 for those in regional areas, a gap of 56.6 per cent.
The figures have drawn sharp criticism from regional MPs, including State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland, and Nationals leader Danny O’Brien, who represents Gippsland South.
“Country communities are being asked to pay more while receiving less — with potholed roads, overcrowded hospitals, delayed school upgrades and worsening housing shortages becoming all too common,” Mr O’Brien said.
Ms Cleeland said the numbers reflected conditions her constituents had long experienced.
“Our roads have been left to crumble, our hospitals are operating off an oily rag, and local communities are forced to fight for basic infrastructure,” she said.
The Victorian Nationals have proposed what they call a Fair Share Guarantee, a policy that would require at least 25 per cent of all new state infrastructure spending to go to regional Victoria, in line with its share of the population.
A government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment before deadline.
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