Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Like the previous speaker, I also rise to speak on the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015. But, unlike the member for Corangamite, I do so on the basis of condemning this government for its continued attack on young people. This legislation is about leaving job seekers under 25 years of age with nothing to live on for a month. This is a cruel and insensitive approach, particularly dealing with 54,000 or so young people across the country, and quite frankly has the potential of pushing young people into a cycle of poverty.

Job seekers, Mr Deputy Speaker Kelly, as you would know from your own area, need support to find a job, not savage attacks that make it harder not only to find work but to survive. I have said on many occasions in this place that giving a person a job is providing someone with a future. Hopefully, there are not many people here who quarrel with that. But giving a young person a job is giving them not only the best start in their lives, going into their young adult lives, but also an opportunity to grow and become a productive member of our community.

Young people in my electorate have many things to be proud of. They grow up in what is obviously one of the most vibrant, colourful and diverse communities, but regrettably, for various reasons, a significant portion of pockets of disadvantage besets my electorate. Regrettably, we have areas of extremely high youth unemployment. These are things that we need to address. We need to address them positively, not simply by taking the stick to people in their most vulnerable period, when they are trying to find employment. In south-west Sydney the unemployment rate for young people between 15 and 24 years of age is hovering around 20 per cent. I think the yearly average is approaching about 15 per cent. Overall unemployment rates are forecast to peak at 6½ per cent. However, in south-west Sydney—as you know, Mr Deputy Speaker—the unemployment rate is already at 8½ per cent now.

Brutally cutting the support for young people trying to enter the workforce is not only unfair; it is simply bad for the economy. Unemployment is clearly an issue, but it is an issue that can only be resolved through investment in education and training and the creation of new and sustainable job opportunities. Instead, this government, along with its various state counterparts—and I refer to the New South Wales government in that—has done the exact opposite. They have cut and continue to cut from our schools and our TAFE colleges, along with doing everything to make getting a university education out of the reach of many, certainly in my community. This government is short-sighted in what is needed to devise a long-term strategy to address serious social issues instead of choosing to attack young people at what could be probably the most vulnerable period of their lives.

It does not matter whether it is one month or six months; we will not be supporting measures which push young people into poverty and hardship. One month is too long for a job seeker to live on nothing. Not only are they going to be denied funds to survive; they will also be denied funds to support gaining the skills they need for employment and even the very basics of getting transport to employment. This is just retrograde legislation.

The opportunity for young people to gain skills which are transferable into employment is high on the agenda in electorates like mine. As I said, we do have a very high level of youth unemployment. We have a vested interest in seeing that those skills that people acquire are not only readily transferable into employment but, from an employee's perspective, gateways into job opportunities. We do not want young people left with nothing to live on, with little or no support as they are attempting to enter the workforce.

This bill, in which Minister Morrison and Tony Abbott are pressing ahead with changes, also comes at a time when they are doing the same with respect to the Newstart allowance. They are pushing job seekers between the ages of 22 and 24 from Newstart onto the youth allowance. That means a cut of at least $48 a week for very young, vulnerable people. That is equivalent to almost $2½ thousand a year. This government is pushing people into poverty. This legislation represents the abandonment of young people by a government clearly out of touch with the needs of young Australians.

This government is willing to attack income support for young people, pushing many into a cycle of poverty, crisis and homelessness. That comes at the same time that this government has also cut funds to homelessness services. It is pretty heartless. You cannot have it both ways. You are either going to provide assistance for young people to get jobs but, on the other hand, where it is difficult you do not attack services for the homeless as well. In a very condescending way, the Treasurer gave advice to young people and to homeless people in Sydney. Only a week or two back, he made it very clear to people. No doubt you will recall his advice, given gratuitously and publicly—'You should get yourself a good job, a well-paid job.' It is all very well if you have the skills to compete for a good and well-paid job, but we are talking about people who are trying to get any job, and this is the way they treat them. So much for the cavalier advice from the Treasurer, who is not exactly skinflint himself, who was trying to indicate to people that it is pretty simple, that you just get a better paid job.

In this place we should be concentrating on our efforts in ensuring nobody is left behind, particularly the most vulnerable. Where does it leave those who are struggling to find work, who are left without any material support? I am sure this government realises it, but if they do not let me tell them. It leaves them on the street. In my community—and this goes for many on this side as well as on the government side—not every young person has the support of a caring and loving home to go back to. How are some of the already strained community service providers out there going to handle the influx of young people seeking shelter and basic necessities, particularly when their funds have also been cut?

Parliament has already rejected this attack on vulnerable young people once, albeit in an even more extreme form, but this policy should now be scrapped completely. It reflects the gross unfairness at the heart of the budget. It is clear that Tony Abbott and Minister Morrison have basically learnt nothing from last year's budget. Given the level of youth unemployment, it is vital that this parliament plays a role in encouraging young people to continue with their education and in turn encouraging our local businesses to reward these efforts. You do not do that through starvation.

The lack of education and training and therefore adequate skills in the youth labour force is the main reason there are few employment opportunities in this group. I commend some of the local employers in my community who are doing their part to ensure that young people receive not only adequate training and assistance but also that they are able to avail themselves of emerging opportunities. These employers show compassion and forbearance but most of all they show they are prepared to back young people.

The Mounties Club in my electorate is a very large club and a very large employer. When I sat down with their CEO, he was able to tell me that 35 per cent of their staff is under 25 years of age. This is an example of an employer going truly above and beyond what would be expected in order to address youth unemployment at a local level. The Mounties has also worked very closely with the local high schools and education providers such as TAFE to provide work experience opportunities, traineeships and apprenticeships to students. The Mounties Club is also the principal sponsor of the Street University in Liverpool, which does many things to assist young people and provides an on-site café, giving young people training to assist them to become job ready.

Another person I would like to mention is Harry Hunt, who has received an Order of Australia. Harry is also the CEO of Comfort Inn Hunts Motel at Liverpool. More importantly for the community he is also the president of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. He has long been part of the battle to keep young people employed. He has identified that this is one of the most important areas that must be tackled in the Fairfield-Liverpool area. We must not allow young people who are deprived of adequate training and support today to become the long-term unemployed of tomorrow. Tackling this issue now is a vital investment in our future, not just in the future of unemployed people. This is about building our community. It is about making decisions that would benefit young people, helping them to become more job ready and to leading them to a successful life where they can support a family and maintain their own home. Unfortunately, this bill represents a heartless attack on young people, blaming them for this government's decisions, which have led to a lack of employment opportunities, punishing them when they are most vulnerable.

I am proud to be part of the Labor Party, the party which stands up for young people in this nation. In our time in government, do not forget we commissioned more than 72 jobs and skills expos. In the limited time I have left, in terms of the last of the jobs expos I hosted in my electorate, we had more than 5,000 young people come through the doors at the Whitlam Leisure Centre where there were more than 1,020 full-time and part-time job opportunities on offer

There were 88 exhibitors at that expo. Those exhibitors, the employers who supported it, took 1,562 resumes from job seekers seeking to gain local employment. More importantly, on the day we held this job expo 370 young job seekers were linked directly with job opportunities, so 370 young people went away from the job expo with employment.

That is an example of getting out and changing lives for the better. That is not using a stick—threatening people with starvation unless they find a job within a month when there is nothing available. This government needs to take a positive approach to helping young people realise their potential, finding appropriate job opportunities for them and in turn supporting our economy and our future.

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