House debates

Monday, 27 March 2017

Private Members' Business

Minister for Young People

5:42 pm

Photo of Andrew WallaceAndrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is the responsibility of all of us in this place to engage with young people in our electorates. It takes a village to raise a child. The next generation of Australians will not feel listened to. They will not be inspired to take on our values of democracy and civic responsibility, because of one person in the ministerial wing of this building. Every member of parliament must play their part in hearing our young people and showing them that democracy works for everyone.

In my own electorate of Fisher, I take this responsibility very seriously. To help me listen to the voice of local young people, I have set up the Fisher Youth Council. This council will meet around four times a year, and I want to take this opportunity to thank Jack Baker, Jak Hardy, Tom McLean, Patrick King, Samantha McGowan and Michael Negerevich for taking part.

The issues that young people raised show how considered and insightful their views and ideas are. They contributed not only problems but suggested innovative solutions. I can see those opposite bickering at the make-up of the group—I am working on the ladies; I am working on those numbers to make sure that we get some good numbers of young ladies in the group; don't you worry about that!

On the issue of affordable housing, the council identified a lack of financial education in our schools as a major contributing factor. They believed that a greater focus in schools on providing training and how to manage personal finances would give young people the tools they need to take control of their own financial and housing future.

The council raised, themselves, the question of furthering youth engagement in politics. Again, they proposed solutions, noting that social media is the most effective way of communicating with young people. In particular, they believed that a single designated social media account, designed to inform young people about how the government can help them, would be valuable.

The council also talked about an issue I have raised, in this place, myself—that is, of furthering the take-up of apprentices among young people. They agreed that they have not received enough information, but they also identified that we might need to consider how we manage wage expectations among school leavers. The Fisher youth council that I convened makes me optimistic. If you take time out to listen to young people, young people are among our nation's most engaged and passionate advocates for reform, so I cannot accept the motion's suggestion that young people are not engaged.

Its suggestion that young people are not a priority for the Turnbull government could also not be further from the truth. Compared to most in our nation's history, the Turnbull government is a young team. We have almost as many cabinet ministers in their 30s as in their 60s. I bet you didn't know that. They just might look a lot older! That won't get back to them, will it? This is a 21st century cabinet. We have no minister for young people because all of our ministers, all of our members, are focused on Australia's next generation.

The motion focuses, rightly—as we do—on the issue of youth unemployment. The coalition government has introduced a raft of programs aimed at tackling this important issue under its $331 million youth employment strategy and its $830 million youth employment package. The Empowering YOUth Initiatives, for example, provide grant funding up to $5 million to organisations that deliver programs which get young people aged 15 to 24 into work. I know the member for Mayo is very keen on getting young people into work, and rightly so. The government is drawing ideas from the sector, supporting and promoting grassroots initiatives in the community. This month, the Minister for Employment announced another 21 organisations that will receive this funding as part of its second round. In total, the program will invest more than $50 million in early intervention.

I could talk all day about the various programs but time is getting away from me. The Pathway program provides an incentive for businesses to hire young people, with youth bonus wage subsidies of up to $10,000. Subsidies are available to businesses that take on eligible young jobseekers under 25 years of age. I encourage all members to join with me in convening a youth council in their own electorates and listen to what young people have to say.

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