Tuesday, 25 August 2026

 Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (13:05): Under the Labor government Victoria suffers the highest unemployment rate at 5.1 per cent, which is the highest unemployment rate in the country and higher than the Labor government forecast in their state budget handed down just a few months ago. What is really worrying is that youth unemployment in Victoria is now at 11.8 per cent. Under the Labor government Victoria has the highest youth unemployment rate in the country, higher than the Australian average of 10.7 per cent. Youth unemployment in Melbourne’s west is the most troubling, currently at 15.6 per cent, closely followed by Melbourne’s north-west at 14.1 per cent.

Behind all these statistics and percentages are young people that this Labor government is failing. Today around 74,000 young Victorians do not have a job. Labor has cooked the economy. State debt is a quarter of the economy, soaring to record levels. Taxation is the highest in the country, adding to the cost of living. Businesses are leaving the state. There are less jobs, and vocational education funding under this Labor government is the lowest in the country.

This comes at a time that youth crime is at record highs in Victoria, with youth offenders committing 48 per cent of aggravated burglaries, 62 per cent of robberies and 58 per cent of carjackings. Our young people deserve better than this. They deserve a strong economy that enables opportunities for them to fulfil their potential in education and in work. They deserve a government that works. Our young people deserve hope and to be valued, and that is exactly why I will keep fighting for a better future for them.