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

Tonight our budget will be all about growing the economy, investing in jobs and in our future. I am delighted that, as announced yesterday, our government is investing $100 million for an advanced manufacturing fund to create more jobs and grow businesses, including in Geelong and my electorate of Corangamite. There will be $47.5 million for an advanced manufacturing growth fund, more money for the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, $20 million for large-scale advanced manufacturing research and $10 million for an innovation hub. This is a great announcement for manufacturing. It is open only to Victoria and South Australia, so I expect Corangamite to be in the box seat to attract some of this funding. We have so many wonderful manufacturers in our region, from Viva Energy to Carbon Revolution, Chemring and Boundary Bend. This comes on top of the GRIIF, the growth fund; the Geelong region job connections program; and our local $20 million jobs and investment fund.

While I continue to celebrate our region as a manufacturing centre of excellence, all we have heard from the member for Corio is more negativity. Let's not forget that Ford announced its closure under your watch, Member for Corio. He talked about a $10 million fund but he got his numbers wrong. It is actually $100 million; it is in today's Geelong Advertiser. It just goes to show that Labor, when it comes to numbers— (Time expired)