Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

As the minister says in response: a great program. What it will do is provide job seekers with the opportunity to undertake work experience in businesses for up to 25 hours a week for four weeks to improve their chances of finding a job. Not only will it give them the experience; it will prove a thing called 'stickability'. These kids turn up, they do the work experience and they have the stickability. They have come each and every day because they are committed to getting a job. They also find out whether they actually like that work as a form of employment. There is also the new $1.2 billion wage subsidy pool so that more job seekers are eligible for wage subsidies sooner and more flexible wage subsidy arrangements are in place so that employers are able to access wage subsidies earlier to help with the up-front costs of hiring and training. There is a new $212 million Transition to Work service to help young job seekers most at risk of long-term unemployment improve their chances of finding and keeping a job. There is a $106 million package for the new pilot programs to test innovative approaches to helping young job seekers, such as those with mental illness, parents and young people from refugee or migrant backgrounds to move from welfare to work. That is the objective. It is to get people to move from welfare to work so they too can have a meaningful life and contribute to our society. With the changes to strengthening job seekers compliance arrangements and promoting a strong 'work first' approach amongst early school leavers, we want young people to move into the workforce, not onto the dole queue.

These programs will build on the Job Active. The government has recently announced a $6.8 billion employment services program, which is replacing Job Services Australia on 1 July 2015. It includes a national rollout of Work for the Dole. Mr Deputy Speaker, if you want to take our fellow taxpayers' money then what you should be able to do and be prepared to do is work for the dole, contribute something back to the community, which is supporting you through its taxes. My coalition colleagues and I are ensuring that the young and unemployed can become more engaged with the workforce, not disengaged and isolated. Our reforms send a very strong signal that we, the taxpayers, will support you when you need it, but we will not keep you. This bill, with its practical measures, is also about educating the unemployed that welfare is not a lifestyle choice, that it is not an employment option; it is a safety net. I think it important when educating the young and unemployed that welfare should not be seen as a long-term option over actively seeking and engaging in the workforce.

I welcome the support in the employment programs announced in the budget for our region's young people, the youth of my electorate of Paterson. We as a government understand that small business is the engine room of our economy. It is no secret, no surprise, that this is where the jobs are actually created. It is where the jobs are sustained and it is where the unemployed and those seeking work can move to. It needs to be the logical choice to move to an employer, not the unemployment queue.

Under the previous Labor government, I saw in my electorate of Paterson small businesses repeatedly crippled, hobbled at the knees. It was disgusting; it was disgraceful. I was approached by a number of small businesses who were practically drowning in unnecessary red tape. It is because of that and after meeting with these small business owners and relaying the feedback to my coalition colleagues that we have now mapped a very clear pathway for a better way for small businesses to deal with these issues in our nation and, importantly, across my electorate. This bill will deliver outcomes, and it is outcomes that we pursue.

The government's 2015 budget is a game changer for the hardworking men and women of Australian small business. Our Growing Jobs and Small Business package is the biggest economic recognition of the sector in Australia's history. Small business has been and continues to be an enduring focus and priority for this government. We are reducing the corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 28.5 per cent for small businesses with annual turnover under $2 million . It is estimated that some 780,000 companies could benefit from this measure—this is 780,000 more companies that will have the opportunity to employ more young people. I see our Growing Jobs and Small Business package as a direct way in which we as a government can assist youth unemployment in our nation—this is a package of practical measures to help small business invest, hire and grow, which in turn enables them to employ more people, and in particular more youth—the youth of this nation that deserve every opportunity to be fully engaged in the work force.

The coalition's Growing Jobs and Small Business package outlines: the lowest small business company tax rate in almost 50 years; tax cuts of 1.5 per cent, down to 28.5 per cent, for incorporated small businesses with an annual turnover up to $2 million; a five per cent tax discount for unincorporated small businesses, up to $1,000 per annum; and small businesses can claim an immediate tax deduction for each and every asset purchase up to $20,000 from the night of the budget through to 30 June, 2017. Those on the opposition benches do not seem to understand that when businesses are spending they are actually creating jobs in someone else's business. When a business spends, there is a purchase made so someone has to supply that product or provide that service, so jobs are created. It will be a massive kick-start to our economy and hopefully will address some of our unemployment problems. Also, start-ups will be allowed to immediately deduct professional expenses, providing cash flow benefits, and we are expanding tax concessions for employee share schemes.

All of these things are designed to grow small business, so our economy grows, and as a result jobs are created. As I said at the beginning, this government understands that the way to address unemployment in this nation, and particularly youth unemployment, is to create a path where businesses themselves can invest, can grow, can create jobs and can be sustainable—and without quality employees they can go nowhere. You cannot grow a business and not have the employees to support that growth. Our packages overall, across all portfolios, are designed with one thing in mind, and that is to reduce unemployment in this great country. I want to see a return to the halcyon days under the Howard government when unemployment was low and employers were struggling to find employees. That is not the case now, when people are queued up. How often do we read about a bloke who has put in 100 or 200 applications, without even getting the courtesy of a reply? There are so many people, particularly young people, who lose faith absolutely because they continue to apply for jobs and at times do not even get the courtesy of a response. I have had this situation in my own household with one of my children. I have seen it first hand. I, as a parent, understand very well how critically important it is to create jobs in this nation so kids—not just mine but every young person—have the opportunity to get into the work force, not onto the dole queue. Labor's preferred option is welfare. That is reflected in all of the speeches that they make. They want to support welfare; it is all about welfare. A point of difference is that I say it is all about employment—creating the opportunity for employment so individuals have a sense of worth that they are contributing to this nation and can grow personally. That is what this bill is designed to enable. We will provide a helping hand, we will support people, but we will not create a lifestyle for anyone at the taxpayer's expense.

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