Wednesday, 22 March 2023

 Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:08): I am delighted to rise to update all Victorians on the progress that we have made right across the Victorian economy to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Back towards the end of 2020, we committed to create 400,000 new jobs by 2025, in what was described at the time as an ambitious target, where only through hard work would we be able to meet that target on the specified time line. Instead, we have met that ambitious target fully two years ahead of schedule. Just last month 62,000 Victorians found work, boosting the total number of jobs created since September 2020 to more than 420,000 – that is 420,000 Victorians with the dignity of work, the ability to provide for themselves and their families. And indeed, so many of those people are doing work on behalf of every single Victorian, working on Big Build projects, working on so many different elements of our reform agenda, our positive and optimistic plans so resoundingly endorsed by the Victorian community at the end of last year.

To give you an example, whether it is North East Link, 110 level crossing removals, the Suburban Rail Loop or, to give a more granular example, the 7000 jobs that can be directly attributed to the Metro Tunnel project, all of these projects in the city, in the suburbs, in the regions and in the smallest of country towns are all about making sure that we have a stronger state, a fairer state, a state where more people are in work than ever before. We are focused on the jobs of Victorians. We are not so much focused on our own jobs. We are focused on the job we have been given, and that is to make sure that we deliver for every single Victorian.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I would ask you to refer to standing order 109. I would ask you to bring the Premier back to the question. I mean, it is a Dorothy Dixer. The least he can do is refer to the question at hand.

A member: No, it’s not!

James Newbury: It is a Dorothy Dixer.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Daniel ANDREWS: As I was saying, we are about making the economy bigger, not smaller. We are about more projects, not cancelling projects. We are not about one job, we are about every job.