I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to elders past present and emerging.
Thank you to our hosts at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The Herald Sun for bringing this forum together once again.
I had the pleasure of spending nearly all last week here in Victoria.
I met with nurses at the Royal Children's Hospital who had been supported by Paid Prac while they did their training placement.
I spoke to construction apprentices in Croydon, who are among the nearly 150,000 Victorians to have enrolled in Free TAFE.
I presented a great Australian, Rob Winther with an award for his 60 years of service to Veterans at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital.
I visited small businesses in Bayswater.
Even held an impromptu community meeting on a street corner in Thornbury.
And in this remarkable multicultural city, enriched by generations of migration: I celebrated Lunar New Year in Lower Templestowe and Ramadan at the Dandenong Night Markets.
Of course, in between all of that, I enjoyed a lot of great coffee.
As you get around Melbourne, you can almost see it growing in real time - and you can see why.
This a wonderful global city to visit, rightly famous for its major events and vibrant culture.
This is also a great place to live, study, make a career, raise a family.
So much of that is credit to the hard work and aspiration of the Victorian people.
People studying, training and teaching at Victoria's world class TAFEs and universities.
The scientists and skilled workers combining their talents in this state's growing advanced manufacturing sector.
The farmers who have endured drought, bushfires and floods, yet picked themselves up and won global recognition for the quality of their
products.
And small business owners who start early, stay late, take risks and create jobs.
Underpinning all this effort and sacrifice is a powerful sense of optimism and determination, even in difficult times.
That's what all of you in this room represent: a deep pride in this city and this state, a belief in it.
That's why you build and invest and employ in Victoria.
Because you know there are things this state does better than anywhere else in Australia and therefore better than anywhere else in the world.
Our Government's vision for Victoria's future is about building on those strengths - and investing in them.
Rewarding hard work.
Nourishing aspiration.
And ensuring that the Commonwealth acts as a constructive partner - not a critic, or a commentator.
Because a strong, growing, thriving Victoria is essential to Australia's future.
And because none of the challenges facing this state will be solved by talking Victoria down.
That's why I am pleased this forum has chosen a positive theme: 'Smart Growth'.
That is the balance we have to get right.
For this city, for our economy - and for our nation more broadly.
Maximising the benefits of growth, while managing the pressures that come with it.
For Melbourne, Australia's fastest-growing city, this means building new homes, roads, public transport and energy.
It also means strengthening essential services: schools, hospitals, Medicare and child care.
Investing in the aspirations that should be the right of every Australian: a secure job that pays a fair wage, quality healthcare they can count on, a great education for their child.
This is the work of delivery that drives our Government.
Repaying the trust that the Australian people have placed in us.
Doing what we said we would do.
Working through and ticking off the commitments we took to the last election.
Cutting income tax for all 14 million taxpayers this year - and next year.
Cutting student debt by 20 per cent.
Protecting penalty rates.
Expanding Paid Parental Leave and adding superannuation to it.
Making Free TAFE permanent, nationwide.
Ensuring every child has access to 3 days of child care subsidy.
Opening more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics and new Medicare Mental Health Centres.
Making medicines cheaper, reducing the cost of PBS scripts to no more than $25.
And cutting power bills, with cheaper batteries.
All of this helps people with the cost of living.
It also lays the foundations for further economic reform.
Indeed, it is the entry ticket for that bigger conversation.
At a time when people around the world are being told the economy doesn't work for them and the system is against them the best possible counterargument is change that people can see.
Proof that not only do governments follow through on their promises - but that these promises make a positive difference.
Already, 540,000 Victorians have been able to get free healthcare, closer to home at one of the 28 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics we have opened.
Thousands more have called 1800 MEDICARE since it came online on 1 January.
This takes pressure off public hospitals and emergency departments.
And it's part of rebuilding confidence in the universality of Medicare.
At the heart of our election campaign was our commitment to make the biggest investment in bulk-billing in the history of Medicare.
And the last three months have seen the biggest lift in the bulk-billing rate in 20 years.
Including a 5 per cent increase, here in Victoria.
And because of the incentives we have put on the table, every week more and more GPs and surgeries are switching over to bulk-bill every patient, every time.
Being able to see a doctor for free in your suburb, having a bulk-billing surgery in your country town, saves you money and it gives you peace of mind.
It means people don't put off treatment because they can't afford it, only for a small thing to become much more serious later on.
And it also stands as a reminder to all of us, that here in Australia, we didn't settle for a health system that would be good for some of the people some of the time, depending on where they lived.
We built a universal system.
We are strengthening that - and expanding it - including with the biggest ever investment in Women's Health.
Something that had been treated as a side issue for far too long.
Medicare is a statement of our national values - and it's a marker of our national capacity.
In Australia, we aim for the best.
That's who we are - that's what we are capable of, as a country.
And when Governments hold true to that, when we trust in our people and their capacity when we empower our population to be their best, nothing is beyond us.
We are seeing that now with the shift to clean energy.
The biggest global economic transformation since the industrial revolution - and a change that Australians are driving in their own home.
We are the world leader in rooftop solar.
And we are well on the way to being a world leader in storage too.
Our 30 per cent discount has now seen nearly 250,000 Australians install a battery in their home or small business since 1 July last year.
Around 45,000 of those here in Victoria.
People permanently reducing their own power bills.
And benefiting everyone else too, with power generated and stored during the day taking pressure off the grid in the evening peak.
This is not some inner-city crusade - it is a success story being written in the outer suburbs and regional Australia.
With ten times more batteries in Frankston than Toorak.
Australians are making the practical choice and backing the proven technology.
At the heart of Australian aspiration, is the dream of home ownership.
And this is the first home buyer capital of Australia.
In the last year, 1 in every 3 Australians who bought their first home was a Victorian.
And since we came to Government, 71,000 Victorians have been able to purchase their first home with just a 5 per cent deposit.
What's happening in Victoria underlines an important fact.
When it comes to housing affordability, the most important thing is supply.
More Victorians have been able to buy a home, because Victoria is building more homes.
In our first term, our National Housing Accord set a common goal with the states and territories of building 1.2 million new homes before 2030.
Victoria embraced that challenge - and is on pace to deliver 98 per cent of its share.
And now our Government will make it easier for Victoria to build more homes, by providing more land.
Earlier this month, we confirmed that we would be selling empty or underused defence land in prime locations around Australia.
Eight in metropolitan Melbourne and a further eight in regional Victoria.
Of course, we will respect the history and heritage of iconic buildings.
And on some sites, we know there is work to do before the land is ready for development, as well as making sure that the supporting infrastructure is in place, from the outset.
But because this is Commonwealth Land, we have a head start.
We can work with the State Government to accelerate the usual processes around approvals and zoning.
And we will use Commonwealth powers to ensure that this land delivers the best outcomes for affordable housing and local communities.
As we build new homes, we must build the roads and public transport to service them.
For too long, Victoria was getting a dud deal from Canberra on infrastructure.
Political game-playing meant that this state with over 20 per cent of the population was only receiving 8 per cent of Federal infrastructure funding.
The new Metro Tunnel is an extraordinary achievement for so many reasons, not the least of which is the Victorian Government had to go it alone on the cost of construction.
That wasn't fair to Victorians - and it's not sustainable for a state budget.
Which is why we have stepped up and invested in North-East Link.
Backed the early works on Suburban Rail Loop.
And when I came to this forum this time last year, I announced an additional $2 billion to transform Sunshine Station.
Taking the Federal Government's total investment in the Melbourne Airport Rail section of the Suburban Rail Loop, to $7 billion.
This funding will turn Sunshine into a hub for regional rail services, so V-line passengers can go direct to Tullamarine, not into the city and then back out.
It will also support the long overdue upgrade of the Melton line, delivering better services for locals in the west.
We locked in this commitment ahead of the last election, because we wanted to lock in the start date.
And this morning, our Minister for Infrastructure, Catherine King stood alongside the Premier, Jacinta Allan to mark the beginning of construction.
This is a project that has been debated and announced and re-announced for decades.
Now it is underway.
Plans approved, shovels in the ground. No turning back.
And when we made that commitment to Sunshine Station and Airport Rail, we also created a $1.2 billion fund to support road repairs in the suburbs and regions.
Upgrading intersections, sealing roads, expanding roundabouts.
At the time we identified three projects.
Today, working with local councils and the state government, we are funding a total of 19.
Those smaller projects make a big difference - to traffic flow and road safety.
And they earn you the social licence, the community buy-in, to do the big things, to embark on generational projects like Suburban Rail Loop.
And to take the country forward on High Speed Rail.
Yesterday, we announced that we would be taking the first stage of this project, Newcastle to Sydney, into design and development.
Because the business case is compelling, it demonstrates the positive return for investors. There are, of course, engineering and construction challenges to consider.
As a former Infrastructure Minister I can tell you, the only thing that moves fast in this process is the train.
But let me be clear: for high speed rail to deliver its full economic and national benefits, it cannot terminate at Sydney.
Australia is the only inhabited continent on earth that doesn't already have high speed rail.
And Melbourne to Sydney is one of the busiest flight corridors in the world.
I accept that I will not be the Prime Minister when High Speed Rail is finished.
But I am determined to be the Prime Minister who starts it.
Nation-building infrastructure enables growth - and boosts productivity.
This is our focus, across the board.
Our government is proud that over 1.2 million new jobs have been created on our watch.
And we are encouraged by the fact that the private sector is resuming its rightful place as the major driver of economic growth and job creation.
A key priority for the Federal Budget in May is to enable this growth without adding to pressure on inflation.
Working to turn around Australia's longstanding productivity challenge, so that our economy has more room to grow, more quickly.
That's why, alongside our cost of living measures, we will continue to invest in new skills and infrastructure, new energy and technology - expanding capacity and capturing future growth.
Just as importantly, our Treasurer, Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister, Katy Gallagher are making structural savings.
Including the reforms we are undertaking that will ensure essential services like the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Aged Care are sustainable into the future.
And working with the States and Territories to establish the new Thriving Kids program.
We know there is more to do to strengthen the Budget.
Our commitment to responsible economic management means we are always looking to eliminate waste and drive maximum value for every taxpayer dollar.
But responsible economic management is also about the responsibility we have to help people under pressure, here and now.
And the responsibility we hold to prepare for the future - and invest in it.
In a time of global uncertainty, the answer for Australia is not unthinking austerity.
It is investing in our nation's capacity to create - and secure - prosperity.
The economic framework that Australians built in the 1980s and 90s was designed for a more predictable and more stable world, of ever-expanding free trade.
Today, when nations are openly linking their economic policy with national security.
And where global supply chains can be tangled up in this strategic competition.
We need to make ourselves more resilient - and more independent.
Navigating this new economic and strategic reality will be the focus of my discussions with Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, during his visit to Australia next week.
Both Australia and Canada are middle powers in a world that is changing.
We cannot change it back - but we can back ourselves.
We can work to shape the future, not wait for the future to shape us.
For Australia, that means investing in our strengths and our skills, our resources - and our economic resilience.
Making more things here in Australia - and making our own way in the world.
If we are always the last link in the global supply chain, we will always be vulnerable.
And if we rely too much on any single market, we are more at risk.
That is why we have working to diversify our trade partnerships and deepen our engagement, particularly in our region.
As well as building new markets for Australian products and services in countries such as India, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.
And Trade Minister Don Farrell is working through the final stages of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, home to 450 million consumers.
Our Future Made in Australia agenda is about making the most of these global opportunities.
Combining our traditional resources, our critical minerals and our clean energy to make more things here and sell them to the world.
In the years ahead, we need to consolidate that ambition - and broaden it out.
Expanding our defence sovereignty as well as our manufacturing capability.
And securing what economists call the physical inputs of economic growth: not just resources but fabricated metals and pharmaceuticals.
In all of this, energy is absolutely essential.
Building new renewable generation and storage, backed by affordable Australian gas, is vital to bring down bills here and now.
And we need to go beyond that, to create an abundance of cheap, clean energy that we can use as a source of enduring competitive advantage.
That is vital for manufacturing - and for securing Australia's place on the digital frontier.
Positioning our nation and this state as the destination of choice for the new jobs and opportunities of data centres and Artificial Intelligence.
As well as the productivity benefits this can deliver for businesses across our economy.
We all know that A.I. presents challenges, it carries risks, new technology always does.
But the biggest risk for Australia is missing the boat. Or imagining that we can sit back and wait and see how this plays out somewhere else.
We need to strike the right balance in our regulations - and we also need to invest in the right skills and knowledge for our workers, our businesses and our society.
What Australia has done with our Social Media Ban for Under 16s shows that our nation is not powerless in the way it engages with technology.
We can embrace its opportunities, in our national interest.
Our choices matter, our values matter - and they can help shape - and lead - the global response.
There are real challenges facing us - there are also profound opportunities ahead of us.
Because when you think about the forces that will shape the future of the global economy: digital technology, clean energy, advanced manufacturing,
And when you consider what a country needs to succeed in these industries: a skilled workforce, a culture of innovation, world-class research and education,
Truly, there is nowhere else you'd rather be than right here in Australia and indeed right here in Victoria.
If we back ourselves and build for the best.
If we invest in our people and our capacity.
Then Victorians and Australians can seize this moment and make it our own.
