MINISTER STATEMENT: EMPLOYMENT

Mr PALLAS (Treasurer) (11:13:42) — I am proud to update the house on the achievements of this government in delivering jobs for Victorians. As the Premier has already advised the house, since we were elected the Victorian economy has been able to produce some 370 000 new jobs. That includes 247 000 full‑time jobs, more than six times as many as those opposite created in their four miserable, dour years. It means that there are 370 000 additional people that are utilising their skills and that are actually making a contribution to the state, which is a lot more than can be said for those opposite.

Our unemployment rate is now at its lowest level in seven years, at a rate of 4.8 per cent. When we were elected, that rate was 6.7 per cent. We are proud of the record increase in female participation in the labour market at the same time that female participation in the Liberal Party is reaching an all‑time low. Since November 2014 the Andrews Labor government is leading the nation for jobs growth. That is something we are very proud of, but we are not blind to the challenges and indeed the uncertainties that face some Victorians.

We know that there are pockets of oversupply in the labour market: former Liberal prime ministers, aspiring leaders of the Victorian Liberal Party. We are committed to ensuring Victorians can find work wherever they are, and we have invested in our infrastructure and in our people. We have the strongest jobs market. We have got the strongest growth of any state, and because of all this, this is a government that is getting things done.