Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Unproductive areas in the economy will always attract technological disruption. We are producing more with less, which requires flexibility in the labour market. We know that high unemployment protection has a negative influence on youth unemployment levels. While it is true that there has been growth in underemployment, economist Tom Kennedy stated that 'employers were increasingly seeking working arrangements with the flexibility to adjust hours', rather than have positions bound on them. Over the past year, the number of full-time jobs dropped by 0.4 per cent while part-time employment increased by 4.6 per cent. That means more people are being employed in diverse sectors and meeting modern lifestyle flexibility arrangements.

Full-time work, of course, is preferable for many people, but not everybody—particularly for women, who are balancing challenging circumstances around family arrangements. We should stand up for them, create the opportunities for them and not try to dictate to them how they live their lives. While many people are engaging in multiple part-time jobs, those who argue for inflexible industrial relations are now the enemy of worker security, because when you do not have a situation where people can get jobs and they are bound only to do it based on what the Labor Party and the trade unions think, they will not get jobs in the first place. (Time expired)

Mr Snowdon interjecting—

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