Tuesday, 7 June 2022

Ministers statements: rural and regional investment

Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development) (14:14): I rise today to update the house on how the Andrews Labor government is delivering the largest infrastructure build in Victoria’s history, benefiting every corner of our state. We have already heard from the Premier about this government’s record investment in rural and regional Victoria, but let me tell you a little bit more about how the Andrews Labor government is getting the job done, from delivering job-creating projects to upgrading hospitals to opening new schools and building the roads and rail that our communities need and deserve.

Through our signature Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund we have invested more than $700 million to deliver the infrastructure and the jobs that are needed in rural and regional Victoria. Only last week I was at Frew Foods in Stawell, where they—with some help from our government—are creating 250 new jobs, nearly doubling production capacity and growing international exports of our world-class lamb. Our record $2.9 billion investment in health infrastructure includes more acute care beds in Shepparton, a rehabilitation facility in Mildura and a further $300 million for the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund, which of course delivers great upgrades right across the state. We are building new schools, including upgrading 14 specialist schools in regional Victoria, meaning that every special school in the state will have been upgraded by the Andrews Labor government. It was great to join with the Minister for Roads and Road Safety for a stakeholder event last week in Ararat, where we took the opportunity to outline the $13 billion of investment this government has made into regional roads and rail, delivering the infrastructure once again that our community deserves.