Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's my great pleasure to rise and celebrate our Regional Jobs and Investment Packages. The Prime Minister was in Geelong a couple of weeks ago to announce that 21 different projects will receive $20 million under our very significant regional program to drive further jobs, adding to the 403,000 jobs created last year. This is record jobs growth of more than 1,100 jobs per day. I'm incredibly proud that this program will create 600 jobs during the construction phase and a further 600 ongoing jobs, with 200 of those jobs in advanced manufacturing. This is a great boost for the people of Corangamite and right across the Geelong region.

One of the most significant grants was to LeMond Composites, which received $5 million and will very soon be starting construction of Australia's first carbon fibre production line. This is an absolute game changer not just for our region but for all of Australia, building on the 1,500 or so people who work in carbon fibre production, including at the wonderful Carbon Revolution company. There will be $2 million that will go to the Conservation Ecology Centre to build an incredible tourism facility at Marengo, $2 million that will go to the Royal Geelong Yacht Club for it's fabulous Safe Harbour Precinct project, and $2 million that will go to Flat Glass Industries, which is using this money to transition. They were making components, mainly windscreens for the car industry, and they're transitioning into architectural glass. This is a great example of how the Turnbull government is supporting proud manufacturers to transition into future opportunities and creating ongoing jobs.

ConFlex Technology will receive nearly $2 million, and EMU, who produce sheepskin footwear, will receive $720,000. There is $500,000 that will go to the Anglesea Surf Lifesaving Club. I want to congratulate the club on its incredible advocacy. They do an incredible job. I recently visited the Starfish Nippers program. That's a program especially for disabled children, and they do an incredible job. And 36T will receive $300,000. They are developing an advanced manufacturing facility to produce export carbon fibre composite bicycle wheels. There will be $300,000 to go to Basils Farm, and I'm very pleased to announce that $250,000 will go to the Colac Otway Shire for their continuing upgrade of Lake Colac, which is a very important asset for the people of Colac. We're very proud of the many ways in which we are standing up for regional Australia and for the people of Corangamite, including under this program.

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