Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the Leader of the Opposition for allowing me this opportunity to again talk about how the federal Liberal-National government has helped this great country bounce back from the devastating COVID-19 global pandemic. When the pandemic first took hold in early 2020, this government took action, putting the health and wellbeing of residents at the forefront of decisions. We also introduced a range of measures to minimise the impact of this global pandemic on local jobs, measures like the HomeBuilder grant and the JobSeeker and JobKeeper programs.

The pandemic has taken a toll on many businesses across the country and across the world. In my electorate of Longman, I've heard from employers whose incomes were wiped out overnight. As we continued to protect the lives of millions of Australians, jobs were lost. But the impact of those job losses would undoubtedly have been far worse than it would've without the federal government's JobKeeper program.

Fast forward to 2021, and the pandemic rages on around the world. In fact, it's much worse today than it was in early 2020. This is an important point to remember: the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging out of control around the world. Here in Australia, thanks to our geographic location, our international border restrictions and our world-leading contact tracing systems, we have been able to weather the storm better than many other countries.

We are indeed bouncing back from the devastating impact of the pandemic that still rages around the world. In fact, of the 1.3 million people who lost their job or were stood down on zero hours, 90 per cent are now back at work. I recently spoke with the owners of one of the fantastic local companies in my electorate of Longman, Allan Sandilands from Taipan Hydraulic Hose Systems, who told me that several of his staff members had recently purchased land and were building their first homes. Allan also told me that this would not have been possible if not for our government's HomeBuilder grants. This is proof that our government's initiatives have not only kept people in jobs but helped create the economic conditions so that young Australians like those at Taipan in Caboolture feel secure enough in their jobs that they would make the biggest investment in their lives—to buy their first home. This is why I'm so proud to be part of this Morrison government—when I hear stories like these in my electorate that demonstrate how we are making a positive difference in people's lives.

Across Australia, the labour market has continued to exceed expectations and even beat the RBA's upside scenario published in August 2020. Peak unemployment appears to be behind us, and the unemployment rate at the end of 2020 was 6.6 per cent. When the coalition came into government in 2013, the unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent and rising. In February last year, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, the unemployment rate was 5.1 per cent and falling. At the end of 2020, given everything this nation had weathered during the previous eight months or so, the unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent and falling. Employment had increased by 50,000 persons and the participation rate rose to a record high of 66.2 per cent. Seventy-one per cent of the increase in employment during December comprised full-time jobs, equating to around 35,000 jobs. The remaining 29 per cent were part time, around 14,300 jobs. Across Australia, 784,000 jobs have been created since last May, recovering 90 per cent of the 872,000 jobs lost between March and May. Though, when it comes to unemployment, my home state of Queensland is falling behind the rest of Australia. Just two weeks ago Queensland recorded Australia's highest unemployment rate, sitting at 7½ per cent for December. Nationally, as I've already stated, the unemployment rate in December was just 6.6 per cent.

In terms of our industrial relations policy, our measures are designed to regrow jobs, boost wages and enhance productivity. Our industrial relations reforms have been presented after extensive consultation with both employee and employer groups. Our reform package addresses known problems with our industrial relations systems and the Fair Work Act. These reforms will not only support wages growth and help regrow the jobs lost to the pandemic; they tackle underemployment, job security, underpayment of wages and enterprise bargaining in order to drive wages and productivity growth.

When it comes to this matter, when those opposite speak I can smell a lot of smoke. There seem to be a lot of pants on fire. The truth is these reforms will give businesses the confidence to invest more and create jobs. That is the bottom line. Unfortunately, many in this House have never been an employer or been on a minimum wage as an employee. I have been both. I can tell you from personal experience that the majority of small-business owners understand the value of their employees and go over and above to pay above any award. I personally received that as an employee, and I have employed this practice as an employer. Employers like Taipan hoses, which I spoke of earlier, employed an agreement manager who employed— (Time expired)

See this speech in context