Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This pandemic has had a massive economic impact on my electorate of Fraser. The local economy was 14 per cent smaller in September 2020 compared with the year earlier. The number of employed residents has fallen by over 10 per cent, and many more have lost hours. Manufacturing in my electorate has been particularly hard-hit. This is a high-value sector which employs over 13,000 residents and adds $1.4 billion to the local economy. But the gross value add of manufacturing in the region is down 60 per cent. Labor values these jobs and these workers, but the government doesn't have an effective plan to support them. It has a manufacturing plan that is significantly too small and isn't being spent fast enough. The number of JobSeeker recipients has doubled in Fraser since March. Nine per cent of local jobs and eight per cent of local residents are reliant on the JobKeeper wage subsidy that Labor called for, but it is being wound back too quickly. My electorate needs support now. This government is pouring money into coalition electorates and target seats through programs like the community development infrastructure grants, but, in my electorate of Fraser, one of the hardest-hit in the country by this pandemic, there's no money for shovel-ready projects like the St Albans Health and Wellbeing Hub. This project will generate long-term benefits to an area with the worst health outcomes in Melbourne metro via a much-needed integrated centre for wellbeing. I urge the government to fund this project and to govern for all Australians.