Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth) (14:42): Some recent commentary in the media from some notorious blast from the past and by those opposite has focused on narratives that downplay Victoria’s economic resurgence. It is negative, it is nasty, and it is mostly nonsense. The truth is that over the past 10 years our state has been the stand-out economy in the nation. We inherited a jobs crisis from those opposite, and in the decade since, Victoria has created 880,000 jobs, more than any other state. Victoria’s economy has outperformed all other states over the past decade, with daylight second.

Since Labor came to government in Victoria our economy has by far seen the strongest growth of any of the states, with gross state product growth at 27.4 per cent, streets ahead of the national average and half a percentage more than the average annual adjustment of the state of New South Wales. If Victoria had grown at the lower rate of New South Wales since this government came to power, our economy would have produced $112 billion less over the decade. Over the past three years business investment has surged by over 30 per cent. That is the highest level as a share of Victoria’s overall economy on record. We have added more than 100,000 businesses since June 2020, the largest percentage growth of any state. Out of all the states, Victoria is the state where net debt to GSP will fall in the next four years – the only state in the federation that is doing that – and Victoria has been the primary subsidiser of the federation since Federation.