Mr Pallas (Treasurer) — Really, you have to wonder about the level of introspection that goes on with those opposite. Members should remember the efforts of the government that opposition members are advocating for. They are advocating for the flaccid, feckless, feeble efforts of the previous government when it came to jobs. Let us remember that that was a government that refused to even mention the word ‘jobs’ in its first budget speech, as if its commitment to working people was anything other than a recently donned coat of convenience.

Members of the Andrews Labor government are proud of their commitment to create 100 000 new jobs. We understand that it is ambitious, but that is what we are about: we are setting ambitious targets. We announced a plan and we are going to get there. As JFK said at Rice University in 1961, we do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard. We have heard the former Treasurer prognosticating, saying that this government has failed in nine months. He is the expert on failure. Believe me, there is much more to see from this government, whose members will work every day in their commitment to deliver to the people of Victoria. This is a hypocritical, shameless matter of public importance (MPI) that is not only misleading but also a demonstration of the failure of those opposite and, might I say, also the inconvenience those opposite feel because of the harsh reality of their poor performance in the management of the Victorian economy.

I think it is important that members appreciate the context in which the then Labor opposition released its Back to Work plan and set its sights on creating 100 000 new jobs. At the time Victoria was at the height of an unemployment crisis, one gifted to us by the coalition government. Its members simply did not care. In fact, in October 2014 Victoria’s unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent. Victorians watched nightly newses as they continued to provide a sense of dread, with people expecting another story of business closure and lay-offs. The unemployment rate got as high as 6.9 per cent in June 2014.

It had been almost exactly a year since the opposition’s federal colleagues dared those in the automotive industry to leave. The friends and colleagues of those opposite, those in Canberra to whom they pay homage, said to people in the automotive industry, ‘If you’re not happy, leave’. What did they do? They left. What happened to Victorian workers in that industry? Five hundred and ten jobs at Ford in Geelong, gone; 610 jobs at Broadmeadows, gone; 1300 jobs at Holden, gone; and 3500 jobs at Toyota, gone. They were going, going, gone — and tens of thousands of jobs in parts manufacturers right across this state and this nation were being compromised by the incompetence, sloth, laziness and overblown ego of those opposite, who did not spend a day concerning themselves about the welfare of people who bore the brunt of the nonsense that came from their efforts in government and the continuing refusal to get up and apologise to the Victorian people for their sloth and the failure to govern in any effective way.

The only jobs target of those opposite was that they were going to get to 50 000 to 55 000 a year. That was it. The former Treasurer is here. He will remember that he got up and said he was going to create 50 000 to 55 000 jobs a year. Those opposite were an abject failure. They failed, and they never once apologised. In fact jobs became something that they did not even refer to. The target was not accompanied by a plan, because goodness knows you can have a target without any strategy to get there! That is a demonstration of how poor those opposite were in government. In fact their actual jobs plan was exactly seven words long. It was only mentioned in passing in April 2011, in the introduction to their independent review of state finances. What was their jobs plan? Here it is, it is brilliant: state governments do not have a macro-economic role. That was it. They did their Pontius Pilate, saying, ‘It’s not our fault; blame the federal government’. In other words, state governments are not responsible for fostering jobs growth. That was their approach.

Labor does not share this view, which explains why Labor resoundingly won the last election. When Labor was in opposition, we released substantive policy documents that focused on kickstarting our economy and also creating jobs. Victorian Labor’s Plan for Jobs and Growth was released in November 2012. Victorian Labor’s Plan for Jobs and Growth — A Focus on Geelong was released in November 2013. Project 10 000 was our plan to create 10 000 jobs by investing in our transport network. All those things were released, together with Back to Work, our plan to create 100 000 jobs, which we released in October 2014.

Back to Work did not just set a jobs target; it was a plan of how to get there. The $500 million Premier’s Jobs and Investment Panel brings together our state’s best business minds to provide strategic advice on how to drive growth and also how to create high-skills, high-wage jobs in this state. It was a plan; it was not seven words of sloth. The $200 million Future Industries Fund focuses Victoria’s industry policy on six high-growth sectors of the economy. The $200 million Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund will foster growth and also create jobs in our region. We are rethinking how we re-engage with the world, by opening up new Victorian government business offices and introducing inbound trade missions. We have also established a $100 million Back to Work Fund, which provides direct incentives to Victorian businesses that are keen to employ more people.

A day after we produced our Back to Work plan, the coalition produced its Victorian Jobs in the 21st Century. It was a masterclass of spin, bluster and chaos, and it typified the intellectual heights of the previous government. First the member for Malvern accused Labor of reannouncing the coalition government’s initiatives in advance — because we beat the coalition to it. It was leading from behind yet again, and it has been brilliant at leading the nation from behind. Then the member for Malvern accused the Labor opposition of having been ‘asleep at the wheel for the last 31⁄2 years’. Apparently he had forgotten that the coalition was actually in government at the time — which would explain the lack of effort in government.

Finally, the member for Malvern and a former member for South-West Coast fronted a media conference. There he was, the member for Malvern — the former Treasurer — with the former Premier. They announced a continuation of the former government’s failed policy. Somehow they were continuing the policy, and they set a target of 200 000 jobs. That, of course, is what differentiates Labor from the coalition: the coalition set a jobs target but only Labor developed a plan. The opposition treated the Victorian economy as a political piñata.

It was just something to beat around — and to beat the drum on. Opposition members talked about unions, militancy and whatever else, but they did not take any responsibility because that would involve macroeconomic activity. That is a quality of those opposite.

Labor treats our economy as the beating heart of our state and something that should not be trifled with, and that is why we are now the government and those opposite are now the opposition. That is hard to come to terms with, I know. Those opposite are still doing great victory laps about how underwhelmingly exciting they were as a government, but believe me: it takes a lot to get kicked out in four short years. The geniuses opposite managed it.

Mr Watt — On a point of order, Deputy
Speaker — —

The DEPUTY SPEAKER — Order! I have been very lenient in this debate. I call the member for Burwood on a point of order.

Mr Watt — The member has yet to speak once about the 7800 full-time jobs lost or the 24 per cent cut in the infrastructure budget. I ask you to draw him back to the motion.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER — Order! There is no point of order. The Treasurer to continue.

Mr PALLAS — We were a much more ambitious opposition, and believe me: we are a much more ambitious government. We make no apologies for that. In fact we will never apologise for trying harder to secure meaningful and sustainable jobs for Victorians. The good news — and there is plenty of it — is that barely a year on our ambition, together with Victorians’ hard work, is starting to pay off.

Let us look at the figures. Between December 2010, when the coalition was sworn in, and November 2014, when it lost office, the unemployment rate increased from 4.9 per cent to 6.7 per cent. That is a 44.2 per cent increase in less than four years. What an outstanding performance — what a demonstration of incompetence! The number of unemployed Victorians increased by 63 885, from 144 559 to 208 444. Since we were elected in November 2014, the total number of employed Victorians has increased by 45 674 or 1.6 per cent, and the total number of unemployed Victorians has decreased by 14 238 or 6.83 per cent. Further, during the member for Malvern’s time as Treasurer, Victoria’s unemployment rate was above the national average for 19 months out of 21. In contrast, in 2015 we have had only two instances of the Victorian rate being above the national average.

Nevertheless, unlike those opposite, Labor governments do not believe in resting on our laurels. As long as there are unemployed people in Victoria, our job remains unfinished. The progress we have made since coming to government has not been by chance. Thanks to the government’s significant policy interventions, there is a sense of hope and optimism. Westpac’s consumer sentiment index has identified a jump for Victoria of 11.6 per cent in the last 12 months, the biggest jump in Australia. Victoria currently has the second highest employment growth rate of all states, at 1.9 per cent.

Consumers are feeling better. In a sign that businesses are similarly feeling more confident after four years of inaction, Victorian state final demand growth is up 3.0 per cent — 0.9 per cent in the June quarter — and our growth of 2.6 per cent for the first half of the calendar year was the strongest of all states.

Victoria has the highest participation rate of all the non-mining states. This government recognises that the economy is transitioning away from mining, and we have a plan to help stabilise our economy and continue its growth.

On the expenditure side, two-thirds of Victorian demand is on household consumption and dwelling investment, more than any other state and well above the national average.

This is a story of achievement, and demonstration of this continues. Only today the ANZ stateometer has rated Victoria and New South Wales as the engine rooms of growth for the nation’s economy. Of course, the member for Malvern sat idly by as the government that he was a part of achieved nothing.