Jon Sullivan (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment Participation. Will the minister update the House about how measures for students and those undertaking training will help to build Australia’s productive capacity and address the skill shortage now and in the future?

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Longman for his question. I know he has a concern for students in his electorate and indeed for the unemployed who are undergoing training. The support that we can provide them in this time, of course, is critical. We must respond to the challenges confronting the nation now but we also need to keep an eye on what we need to put in place when the economy is in recovery. It was therefore critical that the $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan be put in place to respond to the current global financial crisis, the worst global economic recession in living memory. It was also important that we put in place an element of that plan, the training and learning bonus, which has two components: a one-off bonus of $950 for full-time students on youth allowance and recipients of Austudy and Abstudy as of 3 February this year; and a temporary supplement to the education entry payment of $950 for the period from 1 January this year to 30 June next year. That is in addition to the $208 paid for those unemployed people undergoing approved training. The government has also changed the eligibility criteria, ensuring that we bring forward the capacity for people to access this payment within a month of being on income support rather than a full year. These are practical steps that have been put in place by the government and opposed by every member opposite.

Every member opposite has opposed the support in their electorates for students and unemployed people who are undergoing approved training. These people are in need of such support. We know that students are doing it tough in some areas and need to maintain their skills for the future. They need to acquire the skills required by our employers. If the unemployed are undergoing approved training and we can provide the support and they can acquire the skills required by employers in this country over the medium term, then it is important that we have the support of this parliament. But, unfortunately, each and every member opposite voted against this particular initiative, and therefore I am sure they will tell the students and the unemployed—those out-of-work Australians—in their electorates that they did not support them with this particular initiative. This government is not only about responding to our immediate concerns but has also focused on providing assistance in the medium term to job seekers and workers affected by the current circumstances. The government’s Productivity Places Program will continue to help Australians, both in and out of the workforce, by offering them the chance to train and to retrain in a multitude of different areas in need.

Through the Productivity Places Program, since April last year the Australian government has allocated 711,000 training places, of which 319,000 places are dedicated to job seekers. This will ensure, of course, that Australian employers will have the particular skills that they have been crying out for for many, many years. The results in relation to the Productivity Places Program speak for themselves. Since April last year, there have been 88,000 job seekers enrolled in the Productivity Places Program. Indeed, 30,000 of those 88,000 participants have completed their training. Many thousands of those 30,000 had already found work as of the end of the month.

I am happy to inform the House that the government will continue to provide training and employment opportunities in the coming months. This, of course, will help our nation come out the other side of the current economic crisis in very good shape. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition has not concerned himself with jobs. He has not concerned himself with supporting a particular plan. The only job the Leader of the Opposition is concerned about is his own job, which probably is a precarious job. The only job he has concerned himself with is, of course, his own job. Instead of concerning himself with his own job, the Leader of the Opposition should be working with the government to assist employers, job seekers and others in the community who are doing it tough.