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small business Community facilities Agriculture | May 26, 2017

Unemployment in South West Victoria on the rise

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy MP says that unemployment figures recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics are just further evidence that the Andrew’s Labor Government city-centric policies are devastating South West Victoria.

“Unemployment in the South West has jumped from 3.7% to 4.4% in just three months”, Ms Kealy said.

“This dramatic rise in such a short time sees 585 more people forced into unemployment.

“With 60 job losses looming with the closure of Iluka later this year, Daniel Andrews must make every effort to kick-start new employment opportunities in the area.

“It is clear that Daniel Andrews has no jobs planned for regional Victoria and all his energy is spent looking after Melbourne at the expense of regional Victoria.

“Our regional communities need strong investment to keep them alive.

“These latest figures are just more evidence of the Labor Government’s failure to govern for anyone who lives outside Melbourne.

“People living in the Lowan electorate are sick of being treated like second-class citizens.

“It's time for Daniel Andrews’ city-centric Labor Government to go so that Western Victoria can start to move forward and we can build a better future for our region,” she said.