Wednesday, 29 October 2025

 Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (09:51): The greater south-east of Melbourne is Australia’s manufacturing powerhouse. Our region is distinguished as an important manufacturing hub through its scale, advanced capability, large workforce and convenient proximity to key transport corridors for access to domestic and international markets. The greater south-east is home to the country’s largest manufacturing workforce, with more than 3800 businesses and 75,000 jobs. The workforce is not just large but highly skilled as well, and this is underpinned by the wide array of quality education opportunities in the area, from universities like Monash and Federation Uni to Chisholm and its TAFE programs.

With the state government’s free TAFE initiative, we are continuing to support the next pipeline of skilled workers, with more people utilising this to get the skills they need for the jobs they want. The greater south-east of Melbourne’s manufacturing industry actually outperforms its size, producing $89 billion worth of output in comparison to other manufacturing regions in Australia, like western Sydney. This makes our region a key strategic and economic asset not only for Victoria but for the whole country as well. So it is all happening here in Melbourne’s greater south-east, and that is why more people are choosing to live, work and study in our region, one of Melbourne’s fastest growing areas.