David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I begin by thanking my colleagues the members for Scullin and McEwen for bringing this motion and these important sentiments to the attention of the House. This important motion concerns the Northern Melbourne Regional Development Australia committee. Melbourne is booming faster than ever. It is now one of the 10 fastest-growing large cities in the developed world. It is growing quicker than Mexico City and New York. In the past decade declining affordability of inner-city living and the evolution from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy have driven massive growth and great change in Melbourne's north. We are now facing unprecedented population growth. Recent data has shown that it will become home to more than 300,000 additional persons by 2031. This means that the northern suburbs of Melbourne will soon be the size of Adelaide.

The renowned livability which northern Melbourne has always been proud of—safe, multicultural, cosmopolitan and on the doorstep of the Melbourne CBD—is at risk of being replaced by a decreasing quality of life and productivity. Population growth has placed severe pressure on already strained infrastructure, with services and new infrastructure not keeping up with the demands of new residents. We see this on our roads with traffic congestion and at our train stations.

Population growth, combined with a shift in structural change, and the growth of unemployment and underemployment have become major economic challenges in our parts of Melbourne. Recent research shows that in Melbourne's north there are some of the highest localised unemployment figures in the state, and we're well above the Victorian and national averages. In particular, the level of youth unemployment is pronounced and unacceptable. The unemployment rates of the 15-to-24-year-old cohort in the cities of Hume, Whittlesea and Darebin are three to five percentage points higher than that found in inner Melbourne.

All of the City of Darebin and parts of the City of Whittlesea are in my electorate. Northern Melbourne is a highly diverse region, with residents coming from more than 160 different countries and over 140 different languages being spoken at home. We all know how profound the impact is from long-term unemployment and disengagement from work and learning, and the impacts that can have on young people. In a region as diverse as northern Melbourne, a job is of significant importance, as it is everywhere, to a community's cohesiveness. Melbourne is burgeoning, and northern Melbourne is bearing the brunt of growth and change.

This is why I wholeheartedly welcomed the conception of RDA Northern Melbourne. Funded by the Regional Development Australia program, RDA Northern Melbourne was set up to bring together local leaders, businesses, stakeholders and state, local and federal governments to support economic development in our local community and with programs and ideas tailored to the strengths and compensating for the weaknesses of our local community. It has since carried out many initiatives, tackling issues including youth unemployment and infrastructure. I will name just a few. The Food and Beverage Growth Plan—Melbourne's North, released in 2014, aimed at creating 10,000 new jobs over 10 years. Northern JobReach has assisted over 550 jobseekers and exceeded the targets set by placing 111 people in jobs with local manufacturers. Northern Horizons, a 50-year infrastructure strategy, identified local infrastructure priorities, and in 2016 an updated version was published to ensure that the priorities identified in that document remain a true representation of the needs of our region. By engaging a variety of stakeholders and partners, both public and private, RDA Northern Melbourne was able to mobilise the community behind strategic and targeted responses to issues that affect our communities.

This is why this government's decision to shut down RDA Northern Melbourne, following a review into Regional Development Australia, came as a surprise and an unwelcome shock. But the government's action to downplay Victoria's needs should not, perhaps, surprise us at all. This government has infamously been short-changing Victoria for as long as it's been in power. We know that in the most recent federal budget Victoria received less than eight per cent of federal infrastructure funding despite having a quarter of this nation's population.

It is precisely under such unfavourable circumstances that the importance of retaining RDA Northern Melbourne must not be underestimated. I call on the government to look seriously at northern Melbourne's infrastructure, its needs and its urgent requirements for growth and to reinstate RDA Northern Melbourne. I, along with my Labor colleagues, know that the RDA committee continues to provide tailored solutions for our community, and we're going to keep needing them. We deserve a share in our capital city's growth and prosperity. RDA Northern Melbourne has a track record of delivering results that benefit our region, and we continue to need it.

See this speech in context