By Casey Neill
An optional Year 13 at secondary schools is Treasurer Tim Pallas’s favourite part of the 2018-’19 State Budget.
He was the guest speaker at the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce’s business awards breakfast at Punthill Apartment Hotel Dandenong on Friday 18 May.
“I am the treasurer who’s delivered the highest surpluses in the history of the state of Victoria,” Mr Pallas said.
He spoke about various projects that would impact the South-East, including funding to continue widening the Monash Freeway, upgrade the Mordialloc Bypass, and support mental health, education, police and family violence.
“We’re going to give students the opportunity to learn their trade at school,” Mr Pallas said.
The additional year will be available at 100 participating secondary schools, which are yet to be named, and will put students through a certificate three apprenticeship.
“We expect to see kids come out of school with a starting salary between 38,000 and 52,000 a year,” he said.
He said this would be an incentive for students to keep studying and earn a qualification rather than taking on more financially-lucrative manual labour jobs.
Former Greater Dandenong Councillor Naim Melhem asked if there was any support for the Team 11 project, a push for an A-League soccer team for the South-East, hidden in the budget’s fine print.
Mr Pallas said there wasn’t, but “I know you’ve been doing a fair bit of lobbying”.
“The Premier has already raised this issue with me so you’ve obviously been at him as well,” he said.
“I can’t tell you where we’re going to land on it, because that’s not the job of the treasurer.
“My job is just to add up the numbers.
“But you’ve got some very substantial supporters within the government.”
Mr Pallas was also full of praise for Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams.
“Gabrielle is a force of nature,” he said.
“When she has a cause to pursue she does it with enormous vigour.”
