Polwarth electorate
Mr RIORDAN (Polwarth) (14:47): (6384) My question is to the Minister for Employment in the other place, and my question quite simply is: Minister, when will all Victorians be allowed to get back to work? There is an underemployment labour crisis in rural and regional Victoria. The seat of Polwarth sees its major restaurants, many of its businesses and organisations right throughout the community unable to be staffed with the necessary labour force that they require. Communities have had individuals and families unable to work and earn a living now for two years. It is long enough, and we need to get back to normal. Victorians want to recover; they want to rebuild, and they cannot when they are not allowed to work.
Minister, quite simply you are allowing people to go to the football, you are allowing people to go to the pubs. People can go back to church. People are in supermarkets. They can go out for fast food. But we are not letting them get back to work. Victorians want to work. Victorians want to provide for their families. People want to provide for their futures, and this government continues to stop people getting back to work and contributing to our economy and our future.