Thursday, 3 April 2025

 Kathleen MATTHEWS-WARD (Broadmeadows) (17:34): (1120) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Industry and Advanced Manufacturing, and the action I seek is for the minister to join me in a visit to Concept Caravans in Campbellfield. Concept Caravans manufacture the wonderful Viscount, Newlands, Concept and Franklin caravans. Franklin caravans have a special place in my heart. My happiest two weeks every year are spent in a Franklin caravan with family. You should see the latest ones with all the bells and whistles, really clever design solutions and of course such quality engineering and production – done right in Campbellfield. Concept Caravans are a proud partner to the Brotherhood of St Laurence through the Broadmeadows Thrive Hub project. Empowering young jobseekers, the Thrive Hub is an innovative one-stop employment service that helps individuals in Melbourne’s north secure meaningful and sustainable jobs and helps local businesses to access a highly motivated and supported workforce – a win–win for the community.

With our focus on delivering more homes and our fabulous planning reforms that take away the need for planning permits for granny flats, I look forward to discussing opportunities for expanding our prefabricated and modular housing industry in Broadmeadows. We have a proud manufacturing history and a strong manufacturing base in the north. I am so proud of the Victorian Labor government’s investment in manufacturing and am very pleased with the federal Labor government’s focus on a future made in Australia. I particularly thank Basem Abdo, the Labor candidate for Caldwell and a strong advocate for manufacturing, and the hardworking Peter Khalil for their ongoing advocacy for manufacturing in the north. I thank them for their work in securing priority funding for a new local jobs hub through the federal government’s $10 million National Priority Fund to help more people get jobs near where they live and give local businesses a pipeline of skilled workers into the future.