More new jobs have been created in Maitland and other parts of regional NSW than any other regional area in the country, the state government has revealed.
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Regional Development Minister John Barilaro said the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed regional NSW was responsible for more than 65 per cent of total growth in regional areas across Australia.
Mr Barilaro said it was evidence that the government’s “investment in regional NSW was driving business confidence, creating more opportunities and delivering new jobs for regional communities”.
“The NSW government is investing close to $9 billion in infrastructure projects across regional and rural NSW, building roads, hospitals, schools and tourism facilities,” he said.
Mr Barilaro said regional NSW had also recorded the highest fall in unemployment, with it falling from 7.5 per cent to 6.1 per cent.
Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison disputed the figures and called for a break down for Maitland.
She said she would be very surprised if the situation in the Hunter Valley had changed dramatically.
“The unemployment rate in the Hunter Valley excluding Newcastle and Lake Macquarie is up to 11 per cent and as far as I’m aware that hasn’t changed,” Ms Aitchison said.
“Recession is at 12 per cent and we’re at 11 per cent.”
Ms Aitchison said the state government had to explain why so much job growth was occurring in other parts of regional NSW.
She questioned whether the clean-up from the April super storm had reduced unemployment in Maitland.
Ms Aitchison said there had been hundreds of jobs lost in the region in 2015 and the downturn in the mining industry was hurting the city.
“Maitland is so dependent on the mines; so much of the workforce lives here in Maitland and there are a lot of ancillary businesses in Maitland that depend on business from the mines to stay afloat,” Ms Aitchison said.
Construction of the new Maitland hospital would reduce unemployment in the city, Ms Aitchison said.
“Think about how many jobs that would create in construction and in staff to run the new hospital,” she said.
“The government needs to get onto that now.”