Mr PALLAS (Treasurer) — I rise to update the house about the new achievements of the Andrews Labor government in creating jobs for all Victorians. We have done this in community consultation. We have not laid a wreath at the feet of community consultation; we have actually got serious about it. And the community, the business community, are demonstrating in spades where their allegiances lie.

Data released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that Victoria is indeed in a state of momentum. Victoria’s regional unemployment rate now sits at 5.5 per cent, well below the national average of 6.2 per cent, and might I say the lowest of all the states. In this time more than 33 000 jobs have been created in regional Victoria, with over 17 000 of these jobs being full-time jobs. Thanks to the hard work and tireless advocacy of people like the member for Buninyong we have seen that the unemployment rate in the Ballarat region is down to 4.6 per cent.

Now the member for Malvern has the temerity to continuously say that New South Wales is outstripping Victoria in terms of economic performance. That is despite the fact that Victoria is leading the nation for both economic growth and jobs growth in the last year. The 2016–17 budget committed over $2 billion to regional Victoria, making it the highest regional infrastructure investment on the record. We are investing because Labor is proud of our food and fibre sector, which contributes 4.9 per cent to gross state product. Victoria is the country’s leading state exporter. We are making sure that our food and fibre exporters get the circumstances, the environment and the support they need.