Economic growth: The Hume region in Victoria has seen employment growth of more than eight per cent over the past five years.
Victoria’s Hume region has been hailed as one of the state’s economic powerhouses on the back of impressive jobs growth.
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Hume includes the local government areas of Alpine, Benalla, Greater Shepparton, Indigo, Mansfield, Mitchell, Moira, Murrindindi, Strathbogie, Towong, Wangaratta and Wodonga.
Regional Development Australia Hume said the region had experienced an employment growth rate of 8.3 per cent over the five years to 2022, and, as of March 2023, the region’s unemployment rate stood at 3.1 per cent.
Areas of major jobs growth over the five-year period included healthcare, social assistance, agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction and public administration.
Hume’s gross regional product continued upward, rising by 9.8 per cent over the five years.
Since 2016, the number of businesses in the Hume region has also increased — by almost 4000 to 32,000.
Regional Development Australia Hume chair Eliza Brown said Hume continued to supply vital economic lifeblood to the Victorian economy.
The RDA Hume region runs from Wodonga to Seymour and from Greater Shepparton to Towong and has a population of more than 312,000, which is expected to increase to 416,000 by 2036.
National low: Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says the unemployment rate for regional Victoria is matched by only one other in the country.
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Victorian regional unemployment leading nation
Meanwhile, the state government says the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show Victoria has the equal lowest regional unemployment rate in the country.
It said the regional unemployment rate of 2.7 per cent was matched only by South Australia and was significantly lower than the national average of 3.4 per cent.
Victoria’s overall unemployment rate is 3.5 per cent.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said more than 60,000 regional jobs had been created in the past 12 months, taking the total number of regional Victorians in work to 864,200.
“Backing great ideas and providing opportunity means we lead the nation in jobs growth in regional areas,” Mr Pallas said.
“It’s a credit to every worker and every business.”
AusNet’s $4 million spend ahead of upcoming fire season
It may have been floods just a few weeks ago, but it is fire infrastructure providers are now turning their attention to.
AusNet’s distribution network feeds electricity to 802,000 customers across eastern and north-east Victoria and in Melbourne’s north and east, and it has just signed a $4 million contract with NSW-based company Tyree Industries to ensure a ready supply of pole-top transformers for the upcoming bushfire season.
The 2023 Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook has warned of an early start to this year’s bushfire season.
“Pole-top transformers can be damaged during bushfires and severe weather,” AusNet executive general manager of network operations and safety Prue Crawford-Flett said.
“Having these transformers more readily accessible means that in the case of potential bushfires, we will have an adequate supply of transformers in stock to quickly restore power.”
There are more than 40,000 pole-mounted transformers in AusNet’s distribution network.
Businesses and households continue renewable energy transformation
The Clean Energy Regulator’s second Quarterly Carbon Market Report for 2023 has shown that households and businesses continue to invest in energy efficiency technology.
The report found that rooftop solar was tracking to add more than 3GW of newly installed capacity to the grid in 2023.
CER chief executive and chair David Parker said it was clear that consumers were preparing for an electric future and taking control of their energy usage to save money and reduce their carbon footprint.
“Australia has among the best solar resources in the world, and households and businesses continue to install rooftop solar at world-leading rates,” he said.
The increased capacity saw the share of renewable electricity rise to over 36 per cent of demand in the National Electricity Market, and that’s expected to grow to 40 per cent by December.
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