Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government and Minister for the Arts. Will the minister inform the House of government actions to ensure communities in regional Australia have access to the jobs and skills needed to secure their economic future? What are the obstacles to effective employment opportunities for regional communities; and how is the government responding?

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Braddon for his question. He, like so many on this side of the House, understands the importance of encouraging the regions to be their best and the key role that governments play in enabling them to do that. It is essential that we secure the future of the regions because, if we get that done properly, that also secures the future of the nation. That is why we have taken the conscious step of reinvigorating the commitment we make to the regions in terms of not just the structures that we have encouraged but also the resources that enable them to undertake their activities.

The patchwork nature of this economy has again already been indicated in this chamber today. The regions are the patches, and the reality is that those regions know best how to make their particular patch work better. The interesting message that has come from all of the regions that I and others have had the opportunity to visit is that they get the fact that it is important to diversify their economic base, because it is the regions that have diversified their economic base that are doing best in terms of the 750,000 additional jobs that this government has created. What we are saying is that the lesson that other regions have to learn is to diversify their base. Why? Because we are projecting another 1.6 million jobs by the year 2020, and it is up to the regions to determine how much of that action they get—their slice of that increase in jobs. That is why it is important that government programs are there to assist. That is why there are a package of measures in the budget to help the economy in transition, to invest in skills, to invest in infrastructure and to invest in innovation. That is why, in the cleaner energy package, there are a range of measures that help economies make the transition to a cleaner energy future. I was also asked by the honourable member what obstacles may stand in the way of this. I will tell you what the obstacle would be: electing a government that is built around negativity and fear. The Leader of the Opposition, in talking about the Latrobe Valley, has been saying that they are going to be finished. We know that when the Kennett government were in and privatised the electricity industry, they did it without any industry support. Now, when we put forward our industry support measures, the Baillieu government wants to ignore that in its modelling. The Leader of the Opposition went to Whyalla and said that they would be wiped off the face of the earth because of the clean energy future, when we said that 1,300 more jobs would be created.

I have been to the Illawarra region—the area that is being talked of today—on a number of occasions with the members concerned. I know that the people of that region are committed to diversifying their economic base. As important as the steel sector is to them, they know that they cannot have an industry so narrowly based that their economy is focused around it alone, and they have welcomed the initiatives that this government has put in place to assist them make their economy in transition.

We will continue to support these regions in their work. They know where their future lies. They know their strengths. They have identified the hurdles and they want to work with a government that is going to help them overcome those barriers. We know that if the opposition were to get into government they would cut those programs with their $70 billion black hole. (Time expired)