Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. Would the minister update the House on today’s labour force figures and the importance of and the recognition of investments the government is making to support jobs?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corangamite for his question. Earlier today I was at the Canberra Institute of Technology meeting with some apprentices and with Parliamentary Secretary Jason Clare was trying my hand at some trade skills. Needless to say I was not very good at the welding; Parliamentary Secretary Jason Clare was far better at it. But apart from trying our hand at trade skills, we were there to look at the great facilities and the new equipment that have been funded through the government’s Better TAFE Facilities program as part of our nation-building infrastructure package. Of course, this investment is part of what has kept 200,000 Australians in work during these days of the global recession and these difficult economic times.

Earlier today as well the labour force figures for the month of April were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and they show that the unemployment rate has remained steady at 5.4 per cent. In April employment increased by 33,700 to just over 11 million Australians employed. We have got to look at this result in the context of what this nation has achieved during the global financial crisis and global recession. Let us remember that our Treasury predicted when this started that unemployment would reach 8½ per cent. Today’s figures confirm the benefits of economic stimulus and the benefits of the nation working together to keep people employed during this economic challenge. And we should note that Australia has created 225,000 jobs in a period of time when nations around the world were shedding employment. The recent budget has updated our unemployment forecast. We expect unemployment to continue to fall and to be at 4¾ per cent by the June quarter of 2012.

This does mean that economic stimulus has been supporting jobs, and I am asked about recognition of the investments for economic stimulus and the good that they have done. I am pleased that I can advise the House that I received a letter from Abbotsleigh, from a school, about their Building the Education Revolution program. The letter from Judith Poole, the headmistress, reads as follows:

Thank you for your recent letter regarding the opening ceremony for the new Junior School infants wing and early learning centre last weekend. The chairman was delighted to read out your good wishes to the 1,100-strong crowd as part of the official ceremony. Please find enclosed a copy of the official program and photos of the plaque and unveiling. The weather was kind to us and we have received glowing reports from all that visit the Junior School on the high standard of facilities that government funding has enabled us to provide our local community.

I thought that was a wonderful letter, a fantastic letter of recognition, and with some excitement I went to look at the photograph of the unveiling of the plaque. I thought, ‘That’s fantastic. I’m so sorry I could not be there but let’s have a look at the moment when the plaque was unveiled.’ What did I find? I found a photo, and who would you believe is on it? It is none other than the member for Bradfield—so famous for opposing Building the Education Revolution in this House that he actually got thrown out of the parliament because he was so opposed to Building the Education Revolution. There he is standing next to the unveiling of the plaque.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister has made her point with the photo.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am full of a spirit of goodwill towards the member for Bradfield, so I thought to myself, ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t have gone to an opening ceremony for a program he opposed. I’m sure he wouldn’t have stood next to a plaque for a program that he did not vote for, that he did not want one dollar spent on, that he did not want one job created with. Obviously what has happened is that he just happened to be passing by and somehow someone has grabbed him and roped him into the photo.’ I did not think the member for Bradfield would be exhibiting this kind of hypocrisy in his local electorate.

Anyway, I kept looking at the things that I had been sent by Abbotsleigh and they had also sent me the program for the opening ceremony. So I had a good look at that and it was full of all sorts of interesting things. There was a balloon release and a school song, and people got to view the new spaces. I thought that was pretty good. But I was disappointed to see who the opening address of the Evelyn Forster Wing junior school resource centre and early learning centre was being given by—it was the member for Bradfield. What this does not tell me, and unfortunately I have not been sent a full tape recording of the event, is whether or not the member for Bradfield used the opportunity of his opening address to advise the audience of 1,100 people that he voted against every dollar in the program, he voted against every job and if the parliament had followed his lead then this project would never have come to fruition.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hypocrisy on this scale is one thing, but there is another moment later on today when we have got to end some hypocrisy from the opposition. The Leader of the Opposition seems to still be desperately typing his address for later today. Well, he will be viewed as the same kind of hypocrite as the member for Bradfield unless in that address he names, school by school, every school they are going to cut when they cut the Building the Education Revolution program. We look forward to it.