My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Premier, and it is in relation to the jobs crisis in this state. I draw the attention of the Premier to an article in the Age today which says:
- Victoria has become the hardest place on the mainland to find a job. The latest vacancy count from the Australian Bureau of Statistics puts the chance of an unemployed Victorian landing a vacant job in the state at close to one in nine.
- That means there are about nine unemployed Victorians scrambling for each vacant job.
I remind the Premier that yesterday in this very house we debated for some time the issue of the jobs crisis facing the state and I proposed a parliamentary inquiry to investigate the crisis and the reasons for it, to look at the economy in general and to create some potential for job creation. Of course government members spoke against that motion and voted against participation in such a parliamentary inquiry.
Since that debate, even in the last 24 hours, we have seen further bad news on the horizon, with the announcement of 300 jobs to go at Boeing in Port Melbourne and another 180 jobs to go at Philip Morris, as well as some other smaller announcements — and that was just in the last 24 hours. The action I seek from the Premier is that he provide me with a written explanation as to why the government is refusing to acknowledge the jobs crisis in Victoria and why government members refused to participate in a parliamentary inquiry on this matter of public importance.