Over the past 15 months the people of Victoria have come to know the Baillieu government as a government that is very idle, that is big on reviews but that holds little interest in actually getting things done. This might be understandable for the first six months when trying to get a new government in order; however, after 15 months of dithering and total inaction an increasing number of Victorians are losing the one thing most important to supporting themselves and their families — they are losing their jobs.
Since the Baillieu government came to power the number of Victorians out of work has increased by 9000. Under the Baillieu government’s watch Victoria now has the highest youth unemployment rate in mainland Australia at 21.1 per cent.
In the month of December Victoria lost 2000 full-time jobs, whilst across the rest of Australia 26 400 new full-time jobs were created. The state of Victoria was for many years the envy of other states because the Bracks and Brumby governments were active and worked hard to attract investment and create jobs. In 2010 alone 100 000 new jobs were created in Victoria. In 2009 Victoria created 92 per cent of all new full-time jobs in Australia. However, after 15 months of the Baillieu government Victorians are now losing their jobs while the government fails to create new ones. Victorians are losing jobs because this government is a do-nothing government. It is lazy, and it is dithering. The situation is simply that the government is not interested and not capable of protecting or creating jobs for Victorians.