UNEMPLOYMENT IN REGIONAL VICTORIA
Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures which show that unemployment in regional Victoria continues to rise under the Napthine government.
Tim Pallas, Shadow Minister for Employment said that the “ABS figures showed 11,800 more regional Victorians were forced into the unemployment queue and that there were 2440 jobs fewer recorded last month, with the unemployment rate up 1.4 percentage points to 6 per cent.”
This means an increase of 0.8% and 1.6% for the people of the Highlands -Wimmera Region; and Loddon-Mallee Region respectively.
The Napthine Government has not publicly disclosed the number of jobs cut from the public service in regional Victoria. However it is clear that regional centres like Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Seymour, Shepparton, Mildura, Gippsland and Warrnambool were already suffering under the Napthine Government and the 4200 public service job cuts were having a negative impact on these regional centres.
This dramatic increase in unemployment can be attributed primarily to two factors. The failure of the Coalition to formulate a plan to create jobs for regional Victorians; and the dramatic cuts made to regional and rural government departments.
However, I note that it is not all doom and gloom. Labor has a plan to get regional Victorians back to work.
Victorian Labor’s Plan for Jobs and Growth will amongst other things:
– Support Victorian regional councils seeking to develop crucial infrastructure;
– Ensure the Victorian Government’s procurement processes support local jobs and businesses;
– Establish robust regulatory burden reduction measures;
– Protect WorkCover from government plunder;
– Establish Projects Victoria to deliver critical major projects; and
– Establish Infrastructure Victoria to plan the State’s infrastructure priorities;
Victorian Labor had a proud record of creating new public sector jobs in regional centres including the Transport Accident Commission office at Geelong, the State Revenue Office and part of VicRoads operations to Ballarat and the Rural Finance Corporation to Bendigo.
Victorian Labor’s Plan for Jobs and Growth can be found on the Leader of the Opposition, Daniel Andrews’ website at: