Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

If anyone should apologise to young Australians for the position they have been put in, it is that side of the House. That side of the House owes a massive apology to young Australians who have been denied the opportunity to get work in this country right now.

Let's have a look at what the government has done in terms of youth unemployment. There were a lot of lofty promises and a lot of indications that youth unemployment would be recognised as an issue and that those opposite would deal with it. We had, for example, the Minister for Employment, Senator Cash, saying:

Youth unemployment, both globally and in Australia, is unacceptably high. We know that early intervention is fundamental, particularly for those who need additional support …

And in the budget speech this year, the Treasurer said:

It is worth trying new ways to get young people into real jobs.

The government has said all along that it recognises that it is a problem and that it was going to fix it. But what is the reality? The reality is that youth unemployment is almost double the national average. Youth unemployment is somewhere near 12 and 13 per cent, because of this government's inability to create real jobs.

There are a number of people in this place who represent the regions who would be able to tell you that that figure is even worse in their area. It is even worse in the regions. In the Illawarra, for instance, youth unemployment is close to 17 per cent. This is a scandal—17 per cent in the Illawarra. In Moreton Bay, north of Queensland, it is over 16 per cent. In the Barossa, in Adelaide, it is nearly 14 per cent. South-west of Perth, in Fremantle and Rockingham, it is 14 per cent.

The youth labour market participation rate is at 65 per cent—a massive drop of over five per cent since last December. This is huge. According to the government itself—this is the government saying to Senate estimates what the reality is about youth unemployment—there are nearly 300,000 unemployed young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in this country right now. On top of this, the department acknowledged that there are another 170,000 who have been unemployed for more than a year and who are so disillusioned by that fact that they do not even bother to look for jobs—jobs that are simply not there.

See this speech in context