Western Metropolitan Region
Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (12:55): (1779) My constituency question is for the Minister for Small Business and Employment. My constituents have raised with me concerns about the employment rates in Melbourne’s west. Our latest youth employment figure in Melbourne’s west shows unemployment rose from 11.5 to 14 per cent. In contrast, youth unemployment across the state rose from 9.9 to 10.5 per cent. Alarmingly, our youth unemployment rate in the west is about 4 per cent higher than the rest of Victoria. So my question for the minister is: can you update my constituents in the west on the latest figure and what actions you have taken to rectify the significant increase in youth employment? Because in my electorate young Victorians are struggling to find work and there are clear widening gaps between those in the west and the rest of Victoria.