Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, representing the Minister for Regional Development. What steps is the government taking to support the Hazelwood Power Station workers and the Latrobe Valley?

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for La Trobe for his interest in an issue which obviously has impacts right across Victoria. No doubt there will be some tough days ahead for the people of my community, with hundreds of direct job losses expected. It is a community I share with the member for McMillan. Latrobe Valley is a great community, as you are aware, Mr Speaker. It is a diverse community and it has a very rich and proud history of providing the power for our nation, particularly in Victoria, and in terms of underpinning the wealth of the state of Victoria.

The announcement that the Hazelwood Power Station will close at the end of March next year will create some very significant social and economic challenges for my community and for the Gippsland and Latrobe Valley region. Our thoughts are obviously with the workers, with their families, with the contractors and with the small business owners who will be impacted as well.

I want to take the opportunity on behalf of Gippsland to thank the Prime Minister for the work that he has done in relation to this issue. The moment that speculation arose that there was a likelihood that Hazelwood would close, the Prime Minister formed a five-member cabinet task force to coordinate a federal response led by the Minister for the Environment and Energy. That meant that we could announce a $43 million package on day one, the day of the announcement from ENGIE, the owners of Hazelwood. It meant that we could send a message to the workers at Hazelwood, to their families and to the broader Gippsland and Hazelwood community that the community would not be left alone, in the sense that we will be there to support them into the future.

The Minister for Regional Development joined me yesterday in Morwell to meet with Latrobe City Council representatives and community representatives. We explained the immediate additional federal government assistance that would be provided. I must say it was well received by the community. Our support will be focused on supporting and creating new jobs and also investing in infrastructure that the region needs. The package includes a $3 million labour market structural adjustment package to help the employees impacted. It includes $20 million for local infrastructure and $20 million for the Regional Jobs and Investment Package. That comes on top of investments already being made in the region, which the Turnbull-Joyce government has been making in recent times. We are seeing in the order of $210 million towards the Princes Highway duplication project—a project I acknowledge was first supported by the former Labor government. We are also seeing support with $200 million for the Defence Force expansion at the East Sale RAAF base, around $100 million in new infrastructure projects in this term of government and also in the order of $65 million in new roads funding.

I said at the outset that the Latrobe Valley has a very rich and proud history of providing for the nation and for Victorians, but the region also has a great future. We have a determined and resilient community. It is one which will obviously benefit from the investment package that I have discussed here today, but it will also benefit from its own hard work. The Turnbull-Joyce government stands ready to work with this community. It is a resilient community; it is a determined community. We want to make sure we are there to help them prosper into the future.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.