I rise to update the house with new information on the government’s investment in education which is being translated into a higher skilled workforce and the attraction of jobs to Victoria. Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force statistics released last week show that a total of 55 600 new jobs have been created since this government came to power — the second highest in the nation. These are jobs being created because Victoria offers low costs and a high-skilled workforce. However, unemployment remains intractably high in some areas, and of course this is an encumbrance upon young people’s opportunities and their aspirations.

Last Friday I was pleased to attend the Broadmeadows economic and cultural summit convened by none other than the member for Broadmeadows, a man who speaks highly and is greatly concerned about training and education opportunities for young people. At this summit the challenges of our manufacturing sector and the need for a highly skilled workforce were emphasised. This is why our first budget, which was the biggest education budget in Victoria’s history, had $3.9 billion for our education system, with $730 million in capital, including 10 new technical schools. That is why we are investing $320 million in rescuing our TAFEs and $50 million in our TAFE Back to Work Fund. You will not create jobs by cutting education; you do not create jobs by cutting TAFEs and scrapping skills programs.

The Andrews government is committed to making Victoria the education state. We are putting our money where our mouth is. We are standing up to the Abbott government, which is ripping $9 billion out of Victoria’s education system over the next 10 years.