Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the Gillard Labor government’s priorities in job creation, education and skills and the importance to my electorate of Throsby. Those priorities have seen over 600,000 jobs added to the economy through the deepest economic crisis that this world has seen in over 50 years—indeed, over 100,000 jobs have been added to the economy in the last three months in the area of education and skills. There has been significant investment, particularly in my electorate. Over the last few weeks we were pleased to announce an additional trades training centre. There is $5 million worth of investment in trades training centres which will benefit five schools in the electorate of Throsby and the adjoining electorate of Cunningham.

I want to focus today on just one part of the job creation and skills agenda of the Gillard Labor government, and that is with regard to the importance of apprenticeships and how that helps deal with the problem of youth unemployment. In my electorate of Throsby, part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales, general unemployment sits at several points above the national average. Alarmingly, the story with regard to youth unemployment is particularly dire, sitting at 14.8 per cent in the Illawarra part of my electorate as against the state-wide average of 11 per cent. In parts of my electorate the unemployment and social disadvantage that flows from this spans several generations. Addressing those issues will be a key focus of my work as the member for Throsby, just as it is a focus of the Gillard Labor government.

Some companies recognise that they have an important part to play in taking up the challenge of training the next generation of skilled tradespeople. In this regard, I wish to congratulate a local enterprise, Thomas and Coffey, for supporting apprenticeships for a diverse range of ages and backgrounds, including a mature-age apprentice fitter, an Indigenous apprentice boilermaker and 10 apprentices from non-English-speaking backgrounds. There is no doubt that these apprenticeships have made a real difference to the apprentices and the lives of their families. The recent recognition of Thomas and Coffey in the 2010 Minister’s Awards for Excellence was well deserved. Those awards showcase exceptional employers who support Australian apprenticeships. The Wollongong branch of Thomas and Coffey provides industrial maintenance services to companies such as BlueScope Steel, TRUenergy and other companies in the electorate of Throsby. I also congratulate their encouragement of the participation of those apprentices in the literacy program run by the WEA in Wollongong. (Time expired)