Scroll down for the Minister’s response, or click here to discover more about how we’re working for Wendouree.

Original Adjournment Matter from Juliana Addison MP to Parliament –

My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer, and the action I seek is for him to update me on how significant investment made by the Andrews Labor government in Ballarat between 2018 and 2022 has created jobs and supported the local economy.

I am proudly Ballarat born and bred, and I love my community. It is such an honour to represent the electorate of Wendouree, where I spent my childhood and worked as a schoolteacher and where my husband and I choose to raise our daughters, Johanna and Sophia, who are with us in the gallery tonight. By building the projects that matter to my community, our government is making Ballarat an even better place to work and live. We are investing in the health of our community with the $541 million redevelopment of the Ballarat Base Hospital, which will deliver a new emergency department, a women’s and children’s hub, a state-of-the-art theatre suite and an extra 100 inpatient short-stay beds.

We are supporting local manufacturing by building Victorian trains at Alstom in my electorate. This $986 million investment will deliver a new fleet of 25 X’Trapolis 2.0 trains and create hundreds of jobs in manufacturing and the supply chain, with many of those jobs being in my community.

I was able to visit the award-winning $6.5 million Delacombe Primary School gym at various stages throughout its construction. Not only were the builders local and the concreter local but both a parent with children at the school and a former student were working on site.

Ballarat’s population continues to grow as more people choose to make the best part of Victoria home. As a part of our Keeping Ballarat Moving initiative we are upgrading several of our busiest intersections across the city to keep traffic flowing and make sure that people get home safely.

The Andrews Labor government understands the benefits of grassroots sport and the way it supports the health and wellbeing and social cohesion of our community. The $3.7 million investment in the Alfredton Recreation Reserve has transformed the reserve with new amenities, female-friendly change rooms, a fit-for-purpose kitchen and kiosk, cricket nets, scoreboards and new toilets. The fantastic new facilities at Alfredton now open more opportunities for participation, particularly for women and girls. It is not only community sport that is receiving record investment, with both Mars and Selkirk stadiums receiving transformative upgrades to attract professional sports and events from around the country.

I thank the Treasurer for his support of Ballarat, and I look forward to him updating me on how the significant investments across my electorate have created jobs and supported the local economy.

Response from Tim Pallas MP, Treasurer (17 October 2022) –

I am pleased to hear of the positive impact of the Government’s investments across the Ballarat region.

The Government’s investments have contributed to Ballarat’s growing economy and boosted local job opportunities. Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, Ballarat’s employment rate increased by 5 700 people (7.5 per cent), and the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 3.9 per cent. Ballarat has also experienced strong population growth of 5.7 per cent between 2018 to 2021.

Since 2018, the Government has focussed on supporting the local economy and job creation by delivering significant infrastructure project sand improving access to high quality services. An investment of $541million to redevelop the Ballarat Base Hospital will create around 1 400 construction jobs. Investment of $986 million to build and deliver 25 new X’Trapolis 2.0 trains at the Alstom facility will create up to 750 manufacturing and supply chain jobs.

Additional investments of note in the region include:

• $58.6 million to upgrade six traffic intersections and surrounding roads in Ballarat.
• A total of $43.4 million in school upgrades including for the following schools:
  • Miners Rest Primary ($15.4 million)
  • Phoenix P-12 Community College ($10.8 million includes co-contribution from the school)
  • Ballarat Special School ($10 million)
  • Ballarat High School ($7.2 million).
• $39.6 million to build court services to support specialist family violence.
• $10.6 million to upgrade Ballarat Train Station and Lydiard Street Level Crossing.

With Ballarat being one of the four host cities for the upcoming Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games the Government has announced an up to $150 million upgrade to Eureka Stadium. A new athletics track will be built at the site and the stadium will be expanded to hold an additional 5,000 permanent seats, with improved accessibility access. These upgrades will ensure Ballarat continues to attract major events and live music into the future. The outlook for future growth and job opportunities for Ballarat is strong.

Watch and read more of my speeches to Parliament here, including responses from ministers on how we’re working for Wendouree.

You can also view videos from Parliament, browse Hansard transcripts, learn about bills and legislation, and much more at the Parliament of Victoria’s website.