Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about how the Howard government, and in particular the National Party, have abandoned the people of regional Australia, particularly in relation to employment and training. The youth unemployment rate in northern New South Wales is currently 30 per cent. After 10 long years of the Howard government, the member for Page has finally shown some interest in the high unemployment rate in this area. Recently he asked, ‘Why is it so?’ Why is unemployment so high when there are local businesses that cannot find skilled workers? If the member for Page wants to know why there is a skills crisis in the Northern Rivers area, he should ask his own government. The answer is that in the past 10 years the Howard government has ripped money out of education and training—and this is when the skills crisis is the No. 1 road block in our economy.

The member for Page needs to ask his own government why the 2006 budget largely ignored education and training and why the Howard government’s 2006 budget slashed $13.7 million from an incentive program to encourage rural and regional businesses to take on apprentices and why the 2006 budget abolished a $38.5 million scheme to encourage more women to take up training in the traditional trades. Instead of focusing on training Australians first, the Howard government has imported an extra 270,000 skilled migrants since 1996 but in that time has turned away 300,000 Australians from TAFE. Unlike the Howard government, federal Labor’s priority is to train Australians first and train them now. Only federal Labor is committed to giving young people the training and opportunities they deserve, particularly the young people in regional areas, like northern New South Wales.

So, to answer the query from the member for Page, ‘Why is it so?’ it is because the Howard government has sold out regional Australia. Indeed, it is the National Party specifically that has sold out regional Australia. Time and time again we have heard about it. Not just in this area—by failing to educate our young people—but in so many different areas we have seen how the National Party has abandoned the bush. An example is that the member for Page and his National Party mates voted to sell off Telstra—abandoning the bush and abandoning regional Australia. So many locals tell me how disappointed and angry they are about that.

Also, the member for Page and his National Party mates voted for the extreme industrial relations changes. Those changes impacted the bush and regional areas severely. They really impacted the working conditions and wages of the people of northern New South Wales. At the moment we see the National Party in total disarray. If the member for Page wants an answer to, ‘Why is it so?’ I will explain why. It is because the National Party have sold out regional Australia time and time again. That is why the party is in rapid decline. They are vanishing from the landscape.

The truth is there is only one true friend of the people of regional Australia, and that is the Labor Party. We will not let them down. We will not sell them out. We will not do what the National Party have done. Time and time again we have seen the National Party abandon the people of regional and rural Australia. Time and time again people tell me that. There is no doubt that, with the National Party now in complete disarray, its days are severely limited.