Wednesday, 22 February 2023

 Luba GRIGOROVITCH (Kororoit) (10:06): I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jason Little and the team at Goodman for undertaking a build – the largest distribution centre in Australia – in my electorate, Kororoit, to service 4000 grocery stores and liquor outlets across all of Victoria. I recently attended the smoking ceremony and sod turn to mark the beginning of this construction, and I want to thank the Bunurong council traditional owners for the knowledge that they shared during the smoking ceremony and welcome to country.

This $90 million investment by Metcash will help open employment opportunities and create 2400 jobs during the construction phase and provide employment for up to 1200 people once fully operational. This will all be located in Melbourne’s west, and I would hope that many of these positions will be filled by local talent in Melbourne’s west living in close proximity. This site will be the size of seven MCGs. It will include state-of-the-art, highly energy efficient freezers, lighting and logistics equipment. With Goodman’s sustainable approach to property development, this facility will also include 2.4 megawatts of solar, 35 electric vehicle charging bays and 200,000 litres of rainwater storage. This sustainable, future-forward, purpose-built facility is an innovative step forward for the logistics industry and will be an expansion on the four warehouses which are currently based in Laverton. And on that note I want to mention Sarah Connolly, the member for Laverton, who also attended the event.