More Victorian businesses will hit the ground running with a return to work driven by the Victorian Government’s $2.7 billion Building Works package.

The package will create 3,700 direct jobs for construction workers, painters, plasterers, gardeners, engineers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, maintenance workers, administration staff and many others. Thousands more jobs will be created across supply chains, including manufacturing, logistics, transportation, warehousing and retail – while also pumping extra dollars back into the economy.

The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is pleased that the new funding has been allocated in line with industry recommendations on where it is most needed.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Paul Guerra said, “Victorians want to be back at work. This initiative and leadership from the Andrews Government highlights how Victoria can lead the country into recovery and provide jobs for the hundreds of thousands of Victorians out of work and boost our regions.”

The package will also provide a massive boost for local jobs, traders and suppliers, with spending to be directed to local business that can then remain competitive and rebuild.

Regional Victoria will greatly benefit from this package, with spending to flow to struggling regional businesses to modernise and build new infrastructure that supports both the local community and visiting tourists.

The announcement follows clarification over the weekend about hospitality businesses reopening from 1 June.

The guidelines announced on social distancing and patronage limitations were welcomed, as a first step to full recovery, by Victorian Chamber members eager to get back to business.

The Victorian Chamber will continue to provide advice on behalf of members to the government on the detailed rules outlining how they can restart their business.

“The Construction sector has operated successfully through the COVID-19 crisis and this initiative secures significant money to ensure the sector continues to operate across the whole of Victoria with some brilliant statewide infrastructure initiatives,” Paul Guerra said.

“For many Victorian businesses, construction projects alone won’t help the economy restart. It’s time for the rest of business to get back to work and we need all industry, including the hard-hit hospitality, events and tourism sectors, to be operating again.”

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