Emergency services were called to Trawalla, west of Ballarat, shortly before 1pm on Sunday after reports a motorcycle had struck a pothole.

The 71-year-old rider, from Ballarat, died at the scene after reportedly losing control on the Western Highway, near Trawalla Road.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash, which are yet to be determined.

But the incident has revived concerns about the quality of Victoria’s public roads, an issue which is shaping up to be a key election flashpoint.

Related: Labor has had 12 years to fix Victorian roads. Turning to ‘pothole populism’ now may be too late

A report from the Victorian auditor general on 9 September found 48% of the network was in poor or very poor condition.

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email

This was up from 39% in 2021.

Examining more than 23,000 kilometres of state roads, it characterised the overall condition of Victoria’s public roads as “deteriorating”.

The Victorian Coalition has pledged $5bn over four years to plug 1m potholes and re-establish preventive road maintenance.

The Labor government, meanwhile, has committed $352m to double the number of potholes fixed in 2026 from 250,000 to 500,000.

In a statement the premier, Ben Carroll, described the incident as “a tragic loss of life” and said “road conditions aren’t good enough”.

“Victoria police have been clear that the circumstances are still under investigation, so I’m not going to pre-empt that,” he said.

Speaking on ABC radio, Carroll said “the buck does stop with us”.

“I’ve made it very clear there cannot be any more buck passing on road maintenance. That’s why I have said, under my government – it was outsourced in the mid-1990s – I’m going to bring road maintenance back inside of government.”

The shadow minister for roads and road safety, Danny O’Brien, said the death was “the saddest possible consequence to have come from the terrible state of Victorian roads and it should never have come to this”.

“These potholes need to be fixed and fixed properly as a matter of urgency. It is time for action and this needs to be the highest priority now so that no more lives are lost on Victorian roads because of government neglect,” he said.

O’Brien said the Liberals and Nationals would continue to press the government to bring forward road maintenance works for regional Victoria’s most dangerous roads.

The Victorian state election is due to be held on 28 November.