Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Minister, is it true that long-term unemployment has fallen to a record low? What policies have contributed to this outcome and what could disrupt the consistent trend that has driven long-term unemployment lower?

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Boothby for his question and his support for the government’s program. I can report to the House that it is true that the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported today that long-term unemployment in Australia has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. Long-term unemployment fell from 89,900 people in August this year to 84,500 in September this year. Let me put that in context. At its peak in May 1993, long-term unemployment in Australia stood at 329,800 people.

In other words, when the Leader of the Opposition was then the minister for employment, the last time he had some responsibility for running the economy in Australia, there were almost one-quarter of a million more Australians unemployed on a long-term basis than there are today. This is a massive reduction of almost one-quarter of a million in the number of unemployed in Australia. One could say that the member for Brand was hardly the minister for employment; he was, indeed, the minister for unemployment.

Not only has the number of long-term unemployed fallen, according to the latest ABS data, but also the number of very long-term unemployed has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. Indeed, it has fallen from 50,000 in August this year to 46,000 in September. As the Prime Minister and others have pointed out over the last six months, since the introduction of Work Choices we have seen the creation of 205,000 jobs in Australia. Importantly and significantly, 184,000 of those jobs are full-time jobs for Australians. This is good news for Australians. It shows that the government’s policies in relation to Work Choices and in reforming Welfare to Work in this country have led to real outcomes for real Australians—that is, many more people now have a job and are able to provide for themselves and their families in a way they were not able to do before.

In conclusion, I have to note that the Labor Party has opposed every reform that this government has attempted to put in place to bring about these results. Whether it be Work Choices, welfare reform or other reforms in Australia, the Labor Party has stood in the way of these reforms every time, yet we see today the real outcomes for Australians. What this shows, once again, is that it is only the Howard government—the coalition, this side of politics—which has the true interests of the Australian people and will bring about better conditions for Australian workers and their families.