Thursday, 7 March 2024

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (12:47): (730) My question is for the Minister for Jobs and Industry in the other place. The Victorian government’s infrastructure investment over the past 10 years has paid off. We are building the infrastructure needed to sustain our growth as well as creating thousands of new jobs in the process. This investment in jobs is especially apparent in the regions. Victoria’s regional unemployment rate of 2.8 per cent is half a percentage point below the national regional average. Moreover, a record 820,000 people in regional Victoria are in work, an increase of almost 25 per cent since a Labor government was elected in 2014. Talking to constituents has reiterated for me how important the government’s regional investment has been to local communities. Well-paying jobs in regional areas, training the workforce of the future, all while supporting local communities – this is what I am passionate about. Minister, what projects is the government delivering to support local jobs, specifically in the Eastern Victoria Region?