By CASEY NEILL
A DANDENONG industry leader is on a new Premier’s panel of the state’s best business brains.
Actco-Pickering Metal Industries partner Jill Walsh and the other 11 Premier’s Jobs and Investment Panel members met for the first time on Monday (3 August).
She is the only representative from the south east, which she described as the centre of manufacturing in Australia.
“I felt an enormous sense of privilege,” she said.
“You meet amazing people and they reinvigorate you to continue your passion.”
Ms Walsh also recently joined the Southern Melbourne Regional Development Australia (RDA) committee, is a Committee for Dandenong member and is on the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA) board.
She said infrastructure improvements, local content and social cohesion were her top talking points for the panel.
“Jobs bring self-respect and build a sense of community in a region,” she said.
A $508 million Premier’s Jobs and Investment Fund will support the panel to provide strategic advice to the Premier on driving economic growth and creating high-skill, high-wage jobs.
“The premier was sending a message that this was his panel, he was going to resource it, he was going to set it up to achieve,” Ms Walsh said.
The panel will meet again at the end of the month and then quarterly.
Mr Andrews said the government believed in using industry leaders’ voices and their vision to drive economic growth and create jobs.
“This panel draws on some of our brightest business minds to create high-skill, high-wage jobs as well as provide us with high-level, strategic advice on where to invest to make Victoria stronger and more prosperous,” he said.
