Wednesday, 17 June 2026

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:01): (1358) My question is for the Treasurer. Treasurer, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has delivered a scathing response to your tired Labor government and its 2026 election platform, saying:

… Victoria’s recent economic growth has been sustained by strong inward migration rather than productivity improvement. Per capita GSP growth is declining. That means the economy is getting bigger in aggregate, but the value for each Victorian is, on average, going backwards.

I ask you: why has per capita GSP contracted during the two years to June 2025?

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:02): The simple answer to your question, Mr Davis, is that more people are choosing Victoria to be their home, more businesses are setting up and more workers are finding good and fair jobs in the state of Victoria. I was asked yesterday, and I have the great opportunity to again talk about the Victorian economy and the strength of the Victorian economy. The national accounts show that Victoria is going from strength to strength. The economy grew by 0.9 per cent in the March quarter, the second highest growth in the nation in that quarter. Over the last decade the Victorian economy has grown faster than any other state. We expect our economy to continue to grow over the forwards, which is in the budget that I released just over a month ago.

As I said yesterday, the growth is backed by a record number of businesses making commitments to Victoria. Business investment grew by nearly 8 per cent over the last quarter and around 15 per cent over the year, the fastest in almost two years. There is continual investment. There is confidence in relation to growth. Surveys from the banks have indicated that businesses that are here are very positive about expanding, making more investments, investing in capital and employing more people. With that, it shows in the stats. When you employ more people, more people are in work in Victoria. Since 2020 more than 648,000 Victorians have found jobs, the strongest growth in the nation again. There are now nearly 3.8 million Victorians in the workforce.

Mr Davis, in relation to the stats, the economy is strong and the economy is growing. Does that mean that we rest on our laurels? Of course not. We continue to work with industry to attract new investment and attract the innovation of the future. They are the conversations that government are proactively having. They are the conversations that particularly I and the minister for economic growth have every single day. Those conversations are positive because there is so much positivity in Victoria. You would not know this given the constant talking down of this lot. Those that talk down Victoria generally have a vested interest. There are those opposite that do not want to admit that the state is strong, for obvious reasons. There are those in other states that talk down Victoria because they want what we have here in Victoria. Mr Davis, I will continue to trumpet the successes of Victoria. I will continue to back Victorian workers and back Victorian businesses and continue to demonstrate to you that the facts do not correlate with your view of Victoria.

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:05): Way out of touch.

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: I respect Mr Davis’s waiting for silence to ask his question. That is terrific. When he asks his question, we will be able to hear him, and when the Treasurer goes to answer the question, we will be able to hear her, in the perfect world that I want to live in.

David DAVIS: I say to the Treasurer: your own budget figures last month forecast that real GSP would grow by only 1.5 per cent in 2026–27 while population would grow by 1.7 per cent. Therefore, Treasurer, will you confirm that income per head in Victoria will fall on your own budget estimates in the forthcoming financial year of 2026–27?

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:06): Mr Davis, what I can point to is the ongoing strength of the Victorian economy. As I said, yes, more people want to live in Victoria; yes, more people want to set up businesses in Victoria, and there is –

Members interjecting.

Jaclyn SYMES: Mr Davis, to be clear, the Victorian economy is tipped to grow this year by 1.1 per cent, next year by 1.75 per cent and every other year over the forwards. Of course there are national inflation pressures, there is conflict in Iran, there are difficulties that ensure that the Victorian economy has got headwinds, but because of our strength, because of the positivity, because of the continued investment, whether it is private or government, we continue to go from strength to strength. Our agencies are securing foreign investment tenfold over other states. From the stats I have got here: in the past two years, expected to deliver $2.3 billion of capital expenditure, $730 million in wage expenditure and over $600 million in innovation expenditure. Yes, there is still work to do – of course there is always work to do – but we come from a position of strength.