Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

Along with the member for Moreton, I joined the Labor Party because we believe in job creation and the Labor government, when it comes to office, delivers on that promise—and no more so than the government that has been in since 2007.

The truth is that the record to date on job creation is remarkable—750,000 jobs have been created in the four years that we have been in office. Not only is that a record in terms of job creation over that period of time; it has also been done against the background of a participation rate higher than anything achieved by the Howard government in its 12 years.

This job creation, along with the fact that we are the only developed economy in the world to have avoided the global recession, makes the Australian economy the envy of the rest of the world. We have been looking at unemployment rates with fours in front of them while the rest of the world is contemplating figures at least double and sometimes quadruple that.

I am also asked what the prospects are for the continuation of these programs. The prospects are even more remarkable because, as has been indicated by the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Treasury has estimated that in the next nine years 1.6 million more jobs can be created. That is the 750,000 that we have already created, which is the highest on record, being doubled twice over in the next nine years. But only if the policies that we are pursuing are implemented.

We recognise that this is an economy in transition. That has been recognised and that is what the budget that the Treasurer brought down underpins. But we also recognise the patchwork nature of the economy and the need to engage the regions as well as the need to invest in the drivers of economic growth. Those drivers of economic growth, first and foremost, are what we are doing on the skills and training front—an agenda driven by the Prime Minister when she was minister for education and training. That was an investment that has seen the biggest ever expenditure in our schools, universities and TAFE colleges and an agenda committed to lifting the participation rates at secondary schools, in diplomas and in tertiary education. That is an agenda that has already been delivered upon, because we have lifted the retention rates in all of those spheres. Why is this important?

It is said that this doesn't lead to jobs. If you do not lift skills and productivity I do not know where the jobs are coming from, brother. I am telling you this: so far as the education and skills agenda is concerned, KPMG has estimated that what we are undertaking in the skills agenda will, over the period from now until 2024, add an additional 4.1 per cent to our gross domestic product. That is an additional $100 billion per year to the economy, and you ask, 'Where are the jobs in that?' What do you think people do when they have that sort of investment except employ people? But it is not only in terms of that; it is because of infrastructure as well as the fact that we are cutting company tax.

What are the risks to this? That is all being done because we are committed to dignity and prosperity. This will be stripped away with the return to Work Choices. Listen to Peter Reith at the Press Club. There he was, the former minister, advocating the return to a failed policy. Say no to that but yes to our policy. (Time expired)

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