Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth) (14:25): I am pleased to update the house on the true state of business creation in the state of Victoria. We all saw earlier this week data that was presented from that pseudo think tank the Institute of Public Affairs with cherrypicked figures that claimed that business growth was down. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact you would have to be a statistically challenged dullard to believe it. The fact is that over the past four years more than 107,000 new businesses have been created in Victoria, more than any other state – in fact more than Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania combined. 165,000 businesses have been created since this government came to office.

Members interjecting.

Tim PALLAS: 165,000 is six times more, year on year, every year that we have been in government compared to the number of businesses created when those economic geniuses who cannot even read statistics were last in government.

When you look at the fact that our startup sector has grown from $5.8 billion in 2016 to $103 billion today, it stands to reason – with 750,000 new jobs over the past decade – that businesses continue to grow and they continue to employ, and Victorians are benefiting. That is why we have the lowest unemployment level in the nation. How do people get employed? Well, businesses employ them. I think we can safely assume that the lion’s share of employment is being done by businesses that are growing at record levels, six times faster than those opposite.