Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is to visit Wollongong on Monday, as the region braces for news it has become the centre of the nation's unemployment crisis.
The visit comes against a backdrop of job losses across the Illawarra and on the eve of a budget Mr Rudd has described as "the toughest to prepare in modern economic history".
Invitations to Monday's jobs summit at Wollongong Town Hall have been sent to prominent Illawarra business, community, political and union leaders.
HAVE YOUR SAY: What is your message for Kevin Rudd Workers shattered as Shinagawa positions go Expect worse, Illawarra jobless toldThe historic visit by the Prime Minister will thrust the region into the national spotlight during one of the most crucial weeks of the Rudd Labor government's time in office.
The Prime Minister's office last night would not confirm Mr Rudd's visit, but the Mercury understands it follows from a series of forums on job creation and training he has recently held in unemployment hot spots such as south-western Sydney.
A key part of his visit to Campbelltown on Wednesday was Mr Rudd's emphasis on the need for communities to come up with their own region-specific employment strategies.
Mr Rudd will arrive in the Illawarra after figures yesterday showed a drop in the national unemployment rate to 5.4 per cent.
But he will be well aware that Illawarra unemployment sits at 9.1 per cent and is expected to hit double figures when new statistics are released on Thursday.
An analysis of the more than 70 statistical regions in the country by the Mercury recently showed the Illawarra's unemployment rate to be the eighth worst in Australia.
The Illawarra is one of two regions in the state and seven across the nation to be assigned an employment co-ordinator by the Government, tasked to generate job and training opportunities.
Recent spending commitments on public housing and school buildings, a predicted massive budget deficit, infrastructure needs, as well as the future impact of the now-delayed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, are also likely to be key topics at Monday's invitation-only discussion.
It is Mr Rudd's first Wollongong visit as Prime Minister.
As Opposition foreign affairs spokesman in December 2003, he attended a fundraising lunch in the city for Cunningham MP Sharon Bird.
Mr Rudd's wife, Therese Rein, came to Wollongong last July as part of a tour of workplaces with disabled employees.
Former prime minister John Howard visited Wollongong twice during his tenure - once after the devastating floods of August 1998 and again in October 2005.
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