Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There's no question more people are choosing my community in Melbourne's western suburbs to call home. We're one of the fastest growing electorates in the country. Here's a snapshot of data within the city of Melton local government area. Over 75 babies are born a week. Seventy-nine families move into the municipality every week. We have a 6.61 per cent annual population growth rate. We're young, with a median age of 33 years old, and diverse, with 36 per cent of residents born overseas. These stats mean we need to strategically plan better road and rail connections, more houses, schools, public transport options, healthcare and community hubs to cater for this growth. We want to make sure that people who live in the west have the employment and education opportunities they need right in our own backyard.

It was great to meet with the City of Melton team last week on their advocacy priorities. It's so important that the federal government works closely with the state and local governments to deliver the infrastructure we need for our communities, and we already have a number of ways we're doing just that. There is a billion dollars to upgrade the Western Freeway, $300 million to make the Calder Park Drive interchange a reality, $15 million to build the Plumpton Aquatic and Leisure Centre and countless more projects just like those. I know that this Labor government cares about building better infrastructure, health, and education opportunities for the western suburbs in my community, and that's what I'm here in this place to fight for.

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