CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr KEOGH (Burt—Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel) (09:39): The Albanese Labor government is building an Australia where hard work pays off and there's more opportunity to get ahead. More jobs are being created under our government—more than ever in a single term—and wages are going up too. Since we were elected in 2022, minimum wage workers are taking home some $12,000 more a year.

In our community, the work of our government to create jobs and opportunity has made a massive difference, with unemployment at its lowest in the last 15 years. Every person should have the opportunity to get a well-paid, secure job. It can be life changing, and that's why we're working to give more people that chance.

This month, I spoke to graduates of a recent Job Ready course run in our community as part of our $10 million Local Jobs, Local People grants program. Programs like this are breaking down barriers faced by jobseekers, giving them the training and support they need including connecting with local employers. Creating local jobs has been a double win for Burt.

A project like the Armadale train line upgrades and extension to Byford sees good jobs created locally and leaves a lasting legacy for Perth's south-east—a 46-minute journey from Byford to the CBD that costs only $2.80 on a SmartRider card. And more transport projects are now under way. The Tonkin Highway extension and the Thomas Road upgrades are massive construction projects employing locals and, when they're complete, will mean faster and safer journeys with less freight moving on local roads.

Further up Tonkin Highway upgrades are also under way to the Hale Road and Welshpool Road intersections for freeway-style interchanges. Early works for these are happening at the moment. They are a double win: well-paid local jobs on projects to benefit our community and projects that will save you time on the road.

All these projects and more to come, like the widening of the Kwinana Freeway, are not just building a better Burt but they're employing our community. If you want the skills to be part of building our community, we're backing you too, with more than 100 free TAFE courses that over 123,000 Western Australians have benefited from. Along with making free TAFE permanent, we're backing tradies too, with a $10,000 incentive for new housing construction apprentices to help them finish their training and get on with the job of delivering the new housing that we need here in Australia.

It's all part of building a better Burt and delivering real change for Australians.