Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable member for Gorton proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government’s failure to have a plan for Australian jobs while attacking job seekers and cutting training opportunities for young people.

I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

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

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. This is a matter of public importance, and for that reason the opposition wants to have a true debate on the future of jobs in this country.

With the benefit of hindsight it is easy to conclude that this government has no interest in fighting for Australian jobs but, back when the Prime Minister was the opposition leader, it was not so easy. That was a time when the then Leader of the Opposition visited hundreds of workplaces, using workers as props—as a backdrop to his doorstops—he had his hard hat on, and he had his high-vis vest and safety glasses, and he claimed he would defend their jobs if he was ever to be elected prime minister. Well, this proved to be all talk and no action: within months of the election, this government stood back and watched the collapse of the car industry. Worse, in this place, we had a treasurer goad Holden to leave this country—and that is what Holden promptly decided to do. Toyota soon followed. With these two decisions, we will now see thousands of workers—thousands of high-skill jobs—disappear. With the departure of those iconic companies, tens of thousands of jobs are at grave risk in the automotive parts industry and beyond. Where is the Prime Minister now, given the amount of time he was willing to spend as opposition leader in workplaces around this country? He is not visiting blue-collar workers in these companies, assuring them that he will fight for their jobs. He is not visiting Holden and Toyota to assure those workers—those soon-to-be-retrenched workers—that he will find them new jobs. No, the Prime Minister has gone missing in action when it comes to providing opportunities for employment for those workers and other workers in the labour market. The fact is that the Prime Minister has no idea what it will do to those workers and their families when the car industry effectively dies. What arrogance and ignorance was on display by the Prime Minister when he talked about liberating these workers from secure employment—what more shameless approach to industry policy can there be than for a Prime Minister to suggest that the best way forward for these workers is to lose secure employment and be placed in an unemployed position or, at best, to find precarious employment in the labour market?

It is not just the car industry; the dysfunction of this government was revealed when it bungled the handling of the future of our national aviation carrier, Qantas. When Qantas announced 5,000 effective full-time jobs would be cut, the government was all over the place. When anxious Qantas workers looked to the government to fight to save their jobs, the government could only find time to fight amongst themselves. For months we saw speculation, leaking, and backgrounding—against each other—about what should happen. When Qantas tried to work with the government, it was rebuffed by the Prime Minister. One day the Treasurer would outline what Qantas needed to do to secure a debt guarantee—you could read about it on the front page of The Financial Reviewand the next day the government would walk away and say it was not possible. What was the result of this dysfunction, this ineptitude, and this callous disregard for workers? The consequence was that, under this government, thousands of Qantas jobs will go overseas—that is, pilots, cabin crew, flight attendants, engineers, maintenance workers and, quite possibly, the chair of the company, the majority of directors, and even the head office of this iconic Australian flagship company will go overseas. This government might think that is fine, but Labor knows—as most Australians know—that once skilled jobs go offshore, they do not come back. Once you lose skills in your labour market, it is very difficult to replace them. That is why we will fight to keep Qantas Australian and to keep jobs in this country.

Speaking of Qantas and job cuts, there was some devastating news today with the announcement that QantasLink flights into Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory will cease from August. This is a direct result of the closure of the alumina refinery at Gove. Where is the government now? Where is the government's plan to assist Nhulunbuy and north-east Arnhem Land, a community facing a loss of 1,200 jobs? This will destroy that community. It happened months ago—and the Prime Minister, who promised to be there in his first week as Prime Minister, has not turned up for nine months! We will see devastation in that community as a result, and there has been no response from the government and no response from the Prime Minister. This self-proclaimed Indigenous Prime Minister has turned his back on his promise to return to north-east Arnhem—like he has with so many other promises.

What of other companies announcing more than 100 job losses? Simplot, Electrolux, Caterpillar, BP, Rio Tinto, Kellogg's, BHP, Arrow Energy, Forge Group, Alcoa, Asciano, Sensis, Optus, and many, many more. No wonder the government's own department forecast that there would be 160,000 fewer jobs than the Prime Minister promised before the election. But it is not just this government's indifference to jobs and ineptitude; it is not that they do not have an industry minister—they have an industry minister, but they have no industry policy. This industry minister has not won one debate within the cabinet. The cruelty and the callous disregard for workers to be found in industry policy, or in the lack thereof, is writ large in the papers of the budget. It can be seen vividly in the cuts to apprenticeships and traineeships that the member for Cunningham will refer to in this debate. What is it about this government that it thinks it can say to the young job seekers of this country 'you need to earn or learn' while it is cutting $1 billion out of apprenticeships and traineeships? What does the government think young people can do when unemployment amongst young people hits more than 13 per cent? How can they find a job to earn when the economy is in that state?

Labor does support the principle of earning or learning, but you have to have jobs with which to earn and you have to have training places in which to learn. Without that investment and without those job opportunities, it is an absolute disgrace that this government thinks it is okay to cut income for job seekers under the age of 30 for six months. To think that young people will be able to survive for six months without any support whatsoever is ridiculous. It is not only economically ridiculous and absurd; it is socially reprehensible. What we have here is an obligation that has been placed on young people in this country to either earn or learn, and yet the opportunities will not exist in many parts of this country.

Last week I was in Devonport and Launceston, and in Devonport in northern Tasmania youth unemployment is north of 20 per cent. What does the government expect those young people to do? What we have here is a government that is willing to punish young job seekers for not finding jobs, and the way they will punish them is to rip away the only support they get from the government while they are looking for work. It just does not make any sense. It is harsh, it is mean and tricky, and it is going to ensure that we see greater social disharmony. We are going to see antisocial behaviour, we are going to see an increase in crime, we are going to see an increase in self-harm and we are going to see young people despairing in this country because they have no support whatsoever.

What is the most ludicrous part of the government's proposition? I found out last week that even though the government is choosing not to provide any support for these job seekers under the age of 30 for the first six months, they are going to oblige them to look for 40 jobs a month. There was a time when the principle of mutual obligation did apply—it started under Working Nation under the Keating government and was embraced by the Howard government—and you were provided with a modest level of income while at the same time you were required to look for work. That was continued by subsequent governments. This government is the first in living memory to tear up the compact between government and job seekers. They are tearing up the principle of mutual obligation and are expecting young people under the age of 30 to fend for themselves in a labour market where few opportunities exist in some regions of this country.

This government does not get it. The Prime Minister does not get it. They have a lot to answer for, and they should be looking after young people. (Time expired)

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter of public importance concerning jobs and training. What we have heard is 10 minutes of rhetoric from the member for Gorton and failed immigration minister, the guy who won the silver Logie for boat arrivals—not the gold Logie; the member for McMahon won the gold Logie on failed border protection—and who certainly has no reputation at all with regard to job creation. Let us think about Labor's record in relation to unemployment. On their watch youth unemployment queues increased by 55,000, on their watch the rate of youth unemployment increased by almost three per cent and on their watch the number of unemployed increased by 200,000. He seems to have suddenly found a solution to the problems of the Australian car industry, and their solution is endless rhetoric. Let us remind the good member of the past, because he seems to have forgotten that Mitsubishi left Australia on their watch. He was not able to stop Mitsubishi from leaving. He claims he has all of the answers today, yet Mitsubishi left. He is looking left, he is looking right, but Mitsubishi left on his watch. Former Prime Minister Gillard announced funding for Ford—it was going to save Ford, it was going to create jobs, and what happened? Ford announced it was leaving. Far from being the champion of people in the workforce, the member opposite is nothing but a failure.

We on this side of the House believe that nothing creates opportunities faster, and nothing creates more jobs, than a strong economy. The budget that was handed down in this House just weeks ago sets the stage for building jobs into the future. It was a budget that invests for our future rather than what the opposition did when in government, and that was to spend for today. Ours is a budget that invests in infrastructure; it is a budget that provides incentives and programs to assist people into work. Members opposite face some real challenges as we approach 30 June. They could assist with the repeal of the carbon tax—a $7.6 billion hit on the economy. If the members opposite were serious about having concerns for unemployed Australians, if the members opposite were serious about creating jobs for young Australians, they would immediately assist the government in the repeal of the carbon tax. What are you doing? You are sitting there and doing nothing. You are sitting on your hands, when the repeal of the carbon tax will create jobs.

Then there is the mining tax. Those opposite are standing in the way of the repeal of the mining tax. Why don't you support the repeal of the mining tax? Why don't you come over this side and vote for it? We believe the best way to create jobs is through a strong economy. I noticed that you mentioned the great state of Tasmania in your contribution.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister might refer his comments through me, not at me. The use of the word 'you' is a common mistake on both sides of the chamber.

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The good member mentioned the great state of Tasmania and unemployment there. There are some great industries in Tasmania, and the dairy industry is in a state of growth. In north-western Tasmania, an area of high unemployment, we see an increasing demand for labour, and what do the members opposite do? They insist on imposing a carbon tax—a carbon tax that increases the cost at the farm gate by around $10,000 a farm; a carbon tax that adds massively to the cost of milk processing. The competitors to the Tasmanian dairy industry are not carrying those taxes. They are not carrying a carbon tax—the world's largest carbon tax. If those opposite were serious about the job prospects for young Tasmanians, they would come over here and vote with us on the repeal of the carbon tax.

The good old member for Franklin has left the chamber. She was not interested enough to stay around. She is the last remaining Labor member for Tasmania. It was not that long ago that the member for Franklin would have been joined by four other members. Labor used to hold five seats in Tasmania, but not any more. There is only one left. She is the last Labor member standing. With a reputation like theirs on job creation, it is no wonder. It is because of the job-destroying Labor-Greens alliance.

We believe that the best way to grow jobs is through a strong economy. We also have a suite of programs to assist in the creation of jobs and to assist job seekers. We have a job commitment bonus that will provide a $2,500 payment to encourage young people to get and keep a job, to get into work and stay off welfare for 12 months. If they stay off welfare for a further 12 months and stay in work—that is two years in total—there is an additional $4,000. That is a $6,500 incentive to encourage young people to get into work.

We have relocation assistance of up to $6,000 to encourage people to move to a regional area and $3,000 to move to a metropolitan area. If those job seekers who need assistance to move have dependents, there is a further $3,000 available. We have the restart program, which is going to encourage employers to put on older workers to enjoy the benefits bringing workers with a lifetime of experience into the workforce can bring. It is a $10,000 incentive for employers to employ people over the age of 50. It is a very important program.

We have the Tasmanian jobs plan. It is an incentive payment for employers in Tasmania to put on an extra Tasmanian. I would hope that they would take up that program because, as we know, Tasmania is the state with the highest unemployment in the country. It is a state that could benefit greatly, as I said, from the growth in the dairy industry. But what do the members opposite do? They insist on retaining the job-destroying carbon tax.

We have a range of measures in the budget in relation to skills and training, including the $476 million Industry Skills Fund to deliver close to 200,000 targeted training programs over four years. We have trade support loans to encourage young apprentices to get their training. We have expanded opportunities with expanded scholarships for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have expanded funding to students studying diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees. These are great programs.

Also, more recently, I announced the rollout of phase 1 of our revamped Work for the Dole program. It is a program which has the potential to give young people some of the important basic skills that they need to assist them to get by in the workplace. Many employers have been telling me that young job seekers are presenting at the gates of their businesses without the necessary basic skills to get by in the workplace—simple skills such as turning up on time, having the right attitude and getting on with their workmates. These are skills that we who have been in the workforce for many years take for granted but unfortunately are sadly lacking for many job seekers.

We have engaged in expanding Work for the Dole, giving young people in 18 selected locations who have been unemployed for 12 months or more the opportunity to participate in a Work for the Dole program, gain those new skills and have something to take to a future employer. They can have a reference as to what they have done, what they have achieved and what they have contributed to their community. As I get around the country, there is widespread acceptance of our revamped Work for the Dole program. Local councils understand the importance of Work for the Dole. Participants understand the importance of Work for the Dole. So many young people are saying to me, 'Give me a chance to participate. Give me a chance to show you what I can do.' I am certain that there will be many young people who will benefit greatly from our enhanced Work for the Dole program.

We on this side of the House understand quite clearly that nothing creates jobs faster and more effectively than a strong economy. That is why we introduced the budget recently into this House. It is a budget that sets Australia up for the future. When they see the members opposite voting again against the repeal of the carbon tax and the repeal of the mining tax, it will be clear to the young people and job seekers of Australia that they are not about getting the settings right. They are not about assisting in the creation of jobs. They are only about standing in the way. We are a government focused on creating opportunities and giving young people assistance into work. They are an opposition that could not manage the budget when they were in government and do not understand the facts of what we need in this country to create jobs. They are simply intent on standing in the way.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Vocational Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a valiant effort at wrapping a whole lot of rubbish in a ribbon! Honestly—let's bell the cat here—you cannot drag millions and millions of dollars out of a particular area, such as skills, and then say, 'Because we have given what is left a new name we have new initiatives.' That is what the government is attempting to do. The reality is that $2 billion for programs in the skills area has been cut. The bit that is left—the member, for example, talked about the Industry Skills Fund—at half the size of the original programs that were knocked off to create it is rebadged and renamed and we are told, 'Isn't it wonderful? We have a new program.' It is not wonderful. It is not wonderful because what the government has actually done is cut $2 billion out of skills programs and $1 billion out of support for apprentices. It should be held responsible for it. Young apprentices and their families will be holding the government responsible for it.

I wanted to take the opportunity to back my colleague's matter of public importance today because, as we indicated in the parliament—and I acknowledge that the minister acknowledged this—today is National TAFE Day. The point I want to make in this debate about the importance of creating opportunities for both jobs and the training that will go towards achieving those jobs for not just young people but the whole Australian population is that many people may find themselves in life circumstances where they need to retrain. They might have been out of the workforce, for example, raising a family for a significant amount of time and they need to re-enter the workforce. They might be existing workers in a particular industry sector that has been the topic of much debate—and my colleague raised some of the issues there—where workers need to reskill for future job opportunities.

Investing in the people of this nation is a significant task, yet this government sees it simply as a cost. That is how they view it. It is a cost and as much as you can cut out of it, you cut out of it, until it is down to the bone and then you blame the people who fall through the cracks and are not able to get the training and education they need to get into the jobs they need for their own situation. You doubly punish them then by making them wait for six-months before they get income support. That is the reality of what you have done in this budget. That is the reality that will face communities across this nation.

The previous member talked about the importance of providing pathways. I would like to take him to the really disgraceful cut in the apprenticeship sector, that they have made in this budget, which is to abolish the Apprenticeships Access Program. For example, I visited one of the centres in Parramatta run by the Motor Traders Association where they are working with the most disadvantaged young people in that area to give them exactly what the member was talking about—the basic skills in a pre-apprenticeship level course to equip them to get an apprenticeship. Why is that cut, if the government is as committed as it says it is to providing young people with pathways?

Ms Rowland interjecting—

Yes. The apprenticeships mentoring program provided mature age people as supports for apprentices to assist them to ensure that they can get through to completion—another great program well supported by industries wanting to give young people a chance. Abolished, completely gone. So if the government is as serious as they claim to be, they have gone to the very wrong programs in terms of the cuts that they have made and, as a result, they are leaving young people, their families and their communities in a much more difficult situation.

It is not surprising, because we have had for quite a few years now conservative state governments who have carried out exactly the same sort of agenda with our tremendous TAFE system. TAFE has provided trades and a second-chance education for people across this country for a number of generations now. It is a trusted brand and it should be a trusted brand, because its priority and its focus have been on providing the skills and opportunities, the re-entry qualifications that people need to engage in further education and work. It is a national asset. It is actually a national strategic advantage that we have had such a fantastic public education provider in the VET sector. On this day, as on every other day of the year, we should all be committed to challenging those state governments who have been cutting the heart out of TAFEs and calling them on it, saying to them, 'Reinstate TAFE. Recommit to supporting it and ensure that it has a long and prosperous future in this country.'

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure for me to speak on this all-important topic of unemployment particularly youth unemployment. It is an issue in my electorate, and I know in many other rural areas. I will also talk about the related issue of skill shortages, which is a serious issue particularly in the eastern part of my electorate down the Hume Highway.

Given the topic of the MPI and given the enormous amount of money that the Labor Party claims to have spent on jobs and skill creation and skill development and the number of programs that they claim to have put into place, we might have expected that the track record of outcomes would be superb. So I spent a little bit of time looking at their actual track record between the time they got into government in 2007 and the time they left government in 2013 to see how they had gone.

I thought I would start with youth employment. Take note that between 2004 and 2008 there was 13 per cent growth in youth employment. Between May 2008 and May 2014, with the exception of a small uptick at the end—which we will ignore for now and which I will come back to in a moment—we saw an eight per cent reduction in youth employment across the economy. There was an eight per cent reduction across the time that Labor was in government. Shame!

At the same time we can look at youth participation rates in the workforce. It was running along merrily between 2004 and 2008, rising from about 70 per cent participation up to 71 per cent participation—nice work by the past Howard government. But from early 2008 through to the end of 2013, there was a reduction from 71 per cent to 66 per cent in youth participation—five per cent reduction in participation rates across the time of the last Labor government. Now they might say, 'That's all right. We were putting them all into training.' But what we also find is that the youth unemployment rate went from nine per cent in January 2008 to 12.4 per cent by the end of 2013. What a shameful record of youth employment and youth unemployment we saw from that last Labor government.

And when we dig little deeper, we find some hotspots. In western and north-western Tasmania they managed to achieve a 21 per cent unemployment rate from the Labor-Greens alliance, destroying jobs in Tasmania. In Cairns, it was 20.5 per cent, in North Adelaide it was 19.7 per cent, and in south-eastern Tasmania it was 19.6 per cent. Well done, Labor-Greens alliance!

They crow about the extraordinary work they did on training. Let us have a look at apprenticeships. Between 2007 and 2013 apprenticeship commencements fell by 37 per cent. No wonder we have got skills shortages in my electorate! By contrast, between 2001 and 2007 under the Howard government, we saw a 33 per cent increase in the numbers of apprenticeships—all that money, all those programs, and what did you achieve? Absolutely nothing. What a disastrous performance we have seen.

So how are we going? We have only had a short while but let us have a look at the facts. In the last four months the Australian economy has created 100,000 jobs. We hear from the other side lots of talk about a job loss here, a job loss there, but in total we have created 100,000 jobs. If you calculate that for the next five years, it works out at about 1.5 million jobs against our target of one million that we said before the election. So this is the track record we are already seeing from the coalition government. It is time for you to face the facts and the truth: your performance was absolutely abysmal and it is time for change.

Earlier speakers have spoken about the extraordinary range of programs we are putting in place which are targeted and cost efficient and, I am sure, will deliver the jobs and employment that the young people in my electorate want to see. We are a coalition for jobs. We are a coalition for employment and we are the party of opportunity for young people in stark contrast to those opposite.

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a government that has got all the emotional characteristics of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Before the election we had the Prime Minister, then opposition leader, wandering around the country in fluoro. I remember him chucking ice around. I remember him gutting fish. I remember him visiting Ford in Geelong—all designed around jobs to give people reassurance.

What have they done in government? They have instituted policies that are cruel and calculated to divide the Australian community and the economy. They are calculated to entrench disadvantage and accelerate that disadvantage. Perhaps most concerning is that they are utterly, utterly cavalier about jobs. To that extent you need look no further than my electorate and the treatment that Holden got where we saw the Treasurer of this country chasing Holden out of the country.

I will give this to him: he endeavoured to repeat his record in the Howard government where they offered assistance to the car industry to make sure they stayed here, to make sure they employed here, to make sure they exported here. He had all of that rhetoric when he came down and visited Holden but he lost the cabinet battle and then we had a Treasurer who chased Holden out of the country.

From that, we are seeing a domino effect through car manufacturing to Toyota and the components sector, and what happens? Fifty thousand jobs. Not a job lost here or there; 50,000 jobs—more than 10,000 in South Australia—lost in areas that can least afford it.

After that performance you would think that they would be a bit reticent but, oh no, in this budget they cut a billion dollars out of the auto industry thus putting more pressure on the components industry. Anyone who knows the components industry knows that we are very, very close to seeing an early exodus of the car industry, because of the pressure this government has put on it.

What have they got as a panacea to address this employment issue? They have put in place a $155 million growth fund, which they bragged about, but when I asked the industry minister specific questions in consideration in detail just today, what kind of response did I get? Just a diatribe about the Labor Party. No specifics, no thought-out proposals, no projects, no skills based programs for redundant workers—none of that—just diatribe, just rhetoric.

We see that here. We see them wrapping this rubbish up in a ribbon as the member for Wollongong said—$2 billion worth of cuts in skills and apprenticeships, a billion dollars out of Tools For Your Trade, and what do we hear? 'Everything's good. Everything's fine. It'll all be right.' The government employ this unbelievable Orwellian language. They think that if they say it long enough and hard enough, they can defy reality.

What did we see in the budget? We saw a budget that smashed economic confidence, consumer confidence. You do not need to look too far. ABC on 21 May 2014, Michael Jander, their business editor—this was the headline: 'Consumer sentiments slump after federal budget announcement'. It drops 6.8 per cent to 92.9—that is solidly below the 100-point level where optimists equal pessimists; 60 per cent of families thought they would be worse off; and just 3.1 percent of people thought they would be better off. That is what they are doing for the retail industry. We have seen what they did for the manufacturing industry and then they are going to slam the retail industry—another big employer of the young.

To top it all off, we see what they are doing to young people: cutting them off the dole after six months and then expecting them to look for 40 jobs a months during that time when they are not receiving any income. We know what the outcome of that will be: further breaches, further time without income. That will leave many young people homeless, without income and without the capacity to get a job. So we have got this assault on jobs, assault on fairness, and this entrenchment of disadvantage and policies that are deliberately set out to make things worse. If those opposite think that they can get away with this anti-Labor rhetoric and nonsense they put out in this House, they have got another thing coming. These are very, very harsh measures that are designed to hurt Australia. (Time expired)

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As usual, we have listened to five minutes of contribution from the other side that is of no relevance to this debate and does nothing for the future direction of this country. Before I delve into the government's positive plans to provide opportunity for young people, I think it is relevant to revisit and spend some time looking at Labor's past record on employment. It is very illustrative of what we have seen over the past six years and the past nine months with the Labor government still completely devoid of ideas and any future direction and sense of what it needs to do for the future of this country.

Nearly 200,000 additional people were unemployed over the past six years, and we can compare that to the Howard government's efforts prior to 2007 where there was a decrease of nearly 270,000 people in unemployment. When it comes to planning for Australian jobs, it is clear that this government has the policies and plans that will provide successful outcomes for addressing unemployment. As previous speakers already mentioned, in the last nine months, we have seen the creation of over 100,000 new jobs in our economy. Under Labor—and their last couple of speakers were carrying on about various businesses—since 2008, an average of 67 Australian manufacturing jobs were lost every single day. Manufacturing jobs were lost, roughly, every 19 minutes while Labor was in government. In May 2011 the former Treasurer, Mr Swan, promised to create 500,000 new jobs in the following two years. Well, Labor succeeded in missing that target, like it did everything else, by well over 200,000 jobs. In total Labor's legacy was about 700,000 unemployed Australians, which is the highest number in 15 years. Suffice to say, with a record like that, it is ironic that the Labor Party even brings up this topic for debate today. As I said at the outset, they have no plans to do anything for the future.

More importantly, in relation to the topic we are discussing today, we should spend a little time to focus on those who are currently unemployed, particularly in the youth sector. Our national youth unemployment is currently around 13 per cent. In Logan it is higher at 15 per cent and on the Gold Coast it is 17 per cent. We, as a government, want to help prevent young people falling into the welfare trap. That is exactly the essence of what we are seeking to do with our positive plans for the future. To address youth unemployment our plan is for young people with work capacity to be either earning or learning. The government are introducing a range of assistance measures to help with training and education costs. We are not giving young people the option to jump into welfare when they leave school. We want to encourage young people to have fulfilled lives, because we believe that the best kind of welfare is a job. That is not only because you will earn more than you would on the dole, but it is because it gives young people the necessary skills to succeed in the workplace and to have rewarding careers.

If young people cannot find a job straight out of school, we will have a number of alternative pathways to find work which includes the $20,000 Trade Support Loans for those undertaking apprenticeships. In discussions I have had with one of our wonderful education providers, the Australian Industry Trade College,—and we are working with them to open a campus in Beenleigh—I have learnt that they take students in grades 11 and 12 and tailor a school curriculum to line up with the requirements of employers. Ninety-five per cent of the students that have gone through that particular school have graduated with their QCE, but, far more importantly, with a job and with an apprenticeship. This funding will help those students pay for their course fees at this particular school.

There are options out there. I think it is instructive to note that the Australian Industry Trade College came out of a Howard government program. Nothing those opposite have done for the last six years has assisted this. It is only this government that will provide a future for the young unemployed in our community. (Time expired)

Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great MPI to talk on and it is a very important one, although I disagree slightly with one sentence in the MPI. I think the government does have a plan for jobs. Unfortunately, it is to destroy them. The member for Wakefield alluded to this earlier. If you look at the auto industry, before the election the industry said, 'If you cut assistance to our industry, we have to leave.' What did this government say? 'We know better. We're going to cut $500 million.' Then what happened? Holden leaves and takes Toyota with them. That is 50,000 direct jobs gone and another 200,000 indirect jobs under threat daily, because this government had a plan and that plan was to destroy jobs.

If you look at what they are doing in naval shipbuilding, they are kissing goodbye to 5,000 high-skilled, nation-building, defence shipbuilding jobs that are vital to our national security. If you look at SPC, one of the government's own MPs questioned the honesty of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer—quite rightly. As we saw before the election there was not a worker in a high visibility vest that the PM could not get near fast enough. He loved them. Since the election I have not seen him at a factory, and I have not seen him have the courage to go to a factory. He has not been to Alcoa, he has not been to Holden, and he has not been to Toyota. He has not had the guts to visit any of them and say why his $500 million cut is ending their industry.

Let us look at what the government have done since the election. They have cut the $1 billion Aussie jobs plan that would have really helped to diversify the economy. The Prime Minister claims that he wants to be the infrastructure Prime Minister. Well, how about supporting the Australian Jobs Act which said that with every large project in this country you had to give Aussie companies and their workers a go first? It is now gone. If you look at the government's $2 billion of cuts to skills and training, that is gone. There are huge attacks on TAFE and huge attacks on Tools For Your Trade which are all gone. The response from the government member is typical of what their attitude is—when in doubt blame the jobseeker; when in doubt make it harder to get training, make it harder to get Newstart and blame them; when in doubt blame the workers. It is a classic response.

I have heard a few statistics quoted from the other side and I have a few as well. For example, since this government came to power the unemployment queue is longer by 23,000 people. That equates to 100 people a day being added to the unemployment queue. The previous speaker said that, under Labor, unemployment was the highest in over 15 years. Well, you have already broken that. There are 23,000 additional people on the unemployment queue. Even more worrying, there are nearly 17 million less hours of work per month in the market sector. So, those who are lucky enough to have a job are working less. That is a huge impact. Youth unemployment in the eight months the government have been in power in terms of statistical collection has gone from 12.7 per cent to 13.1 per cent, which is a very significant increase in such a short amount of time.

One area I want to touch was the government's great shield. People may remember that before the election they hid behind their little pamphlet 'Our plan—real solutions for all Australians'. Whenever Mr Abbott got a hard question he just said, 'Don't worry, I've got my pamphlet that provides all the answers.' There was also the six-point plan that some of their candidates in Western Sydney had a bit of trouble with. If I go to the employment section of the pamphlet, what is the one graph that they choose to highlight? What is the one graph that demonstrates how worried they are about unemployment? It is the long-term unemployed where they have a graph that shows the unemployment queue. What has happened since they have come to power? Since they have come to power long-term unemployment in this country has gone up by 20 per cent in eight short months, that is 30,000 more long-term unemployed people than before they were elected. It is so much that I have had to draw an extra symbol on the graph. It is so out of scale with the graph that they took to the Australian people. This shows that the government are all talk and no action.

This is an incredibly important topic. We are talking about the future of Australians. We are talking about the future of young people and trying to give them a chance to have gainful employment, where they can raise a family and contribute to Australian society. All we get from the other side is glib slogans, empty three-word slogans. Their actions are cutting $1 billion from the Australian jobs plan, cutting $2 billion from skills and training, cutting other forms of support, attacking child care and ripping away any support for Australian job seekers. All we get from them is blaming the job seekers—blaming the young people trying to find work in the member for Wakefield's electorate, the member for Gellibrand's electorate and my electorate of Charlton. When in doubt, they blame young people and they blame job seekers. It just demonstrates that they are not fit to govern this country.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I read today's MPI, I had to seriously question what document those opposite were actually reading. They seem to have picked up the ALP propaganda scare folder. It is quite obvious that they have not even read the coalition policy documents or, indeed, the budget papers, or are they away in their own parallel universe yet again? The alternate Labor universe is where they pretend that the carbon tax actually reduces greenhouse gas emissions and does not drive up the cost of living. The alternate Labor universe is where the cost of doing business as a result of the carbon tax and the 20,000 new pieces of regulation under Labor does not increase and, in fact, it means that small businesses are forced to cut staff, costing Australian jobs and contributing to the rising unemployment level. The alternate Labor universe is where changing the rules for employment services—thereby removing the financial incentive to find the unemployed a part-time job, even if they wanted one—does not in fact leave thousands of Australians jobless and the hospitality industry crying out for part-time casual staff. The alternate Labor universe is where those opposite remain blind to these facts: an average of 67 Australian manufacturing jobs were lost each day under Labor since 2008—that is one manufacturing job every 19 minutes on their watch; and in 2011 the member for Lilley promised, until he was blue in the face, to create 500,000 new jobs over the following two years, when in fact, two years later, Labor missed that target by more than 200,000 jobs. The alternate Labor universe saw unemployment rise to its highest level in 15 years.

How in this alternate Labor universe does cutting the Australian Defence Force Gap Year, the ADF's most successful recruiting program, improve training opportunities for young people? How does repealing the Green Corps program, which provided valuable vocational education opportunities, help job seekers and training opportunities for young people? How does abolishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission help job seekers, where malicious strike action with ulterior motives drives up the cost of doing business? The industry has been in decline over recent years due to Labor's policies pandering to the unions. How does suffocating a once-strong industry create employment opportunities and skills training for Australians? The answer is simple: it does not. The alternate Labor universe is some mythical, topsy-turvy world where they live far, far away from reality.

The member for Cunningham demonstrated that Labor is still living in this alternate universe when she talked about the government's decision to cease apprenticeship access. If she wants to talk about job outcomes, the access program was delivering a meagre 26 per cent job outcome under her watch despite spending more than $100 million on this program every year. We are about target outcome focused programs. Thankfully, on this side of the House we do not live in a state of chronic psychosis and blissful ignorance. No—on this side we are well and truly aware of the cold, hard facts about the state of unemployment and education left behind by the previous, Labor government. That is why we are determined to repeal the carbon tax and reduce the burden of red and green tape on individuals, businesses and organisations. That is why the coalition is deregulating universities, which will see opportunities for 80,000 additional places in sub-bachelor degrees such a diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees. Commonwealth funding has been expanded to support people studying these courses. The coalition government has expanded Commonwealth funding for bachelor degrees to all registered higher education institutions, not just universities.

We have introduced the largest ever Commonwealth Scholarships Program, creating more opportunities for students with low socioeconomic backgrounds from regional areas to enter tertiary study. Apprentices will now be eligible for Trade Support Loans, helping with the cost of their training and the purchasing of the tools for their trade. Streamlining of the Industry Skills Fund and a commitment of $476 million will see 200,000 targeted training places over four years in areas of need. The coalition is boosting the number of older workers participating in the workforce through the Restart initiative. Businesses will receive up to $10,000 for employing workers older than 50.

These are just some of the initiatives the coalition government is taking to improve opportunities for job seekers and training opportunities for young Australians. We have a proud history on this side of the House of improving the job market, allowing businesses to do what they do best, boosting employment and seeing the next generation trained and educated to strive in an increasingly competitive market. It is time that Labor stopped their delusions of false accomplishment and let the coalition government get on with the job.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have been listening closely to the contributions from those opposite—not from within the chamber but in my office. I would like to commend the member for Ryan for one thing, and that is the maroon scarf around her neck. However, I condemn her and the people that she is sitting with for the heavy burden they have sadly put around the necks of young Australians. We were led to believe before the election that the Prime Minister, the member for Warringah, would fight for Australian jobs. He has a record of being a fighter, a boxer, but, sadly, we have seen so many jobs go offshore—jobs that will never come back—particularly in manufacturing, when he said that Australia would always have a manufacturing sector. He has neglected it on his watch. In fact, my opponent, the member for Warringah's candidate, promised an LNP commitment that there would be a jobs forum in the electorate of Moreton within 100 days of gaining office. Nearly 300 days in and there is still no jobs forum, despite me writing to two ministers about it and asking them to keep their word. On the south side of Brisbane, most of the electorate of Moreton has a youth unemployment rate nudging 15 per cent. Sadly, we are also seeing cuts in the TAFE sector in Queensland. John-Paul Langbroek is committed to closing one in three TAFEs—it is a horrible fact to acknowledge on National TAFE Day, but that is the reality facing Queenslanders. As we have heard from other speakers from other states around this nation, they have all been impacted—and they will be impacted further by the short-sighted decision to cut $2 billion from schools and training programs.

We have a government that is happy to commit to that Queensland government policy of 10 years ago of 'earning or learning', yet they are ripping money away from programs that actually provide support to young people in apprenticeships and to help them get into employment and education. We should be responding to the issue of youth unemployment by investing in young people, not cutting them off when they most need help.

On National TAFE Day I acknowledge that, over the last 40 years, TAFE has emerged as one of the top vocational education systems in the world, as the traditional master and apprenticeship scheme has changed and evolved to reflect the modern world. So why does Queensland state government policy not recognise TAFEs achievements—its contribution to our society and the incredible skills of the teachers who work there? Instead they have decided to savagely cut investment in TAFEs.

Last year the Newman Queensland government announced details of reforms which will make all public funding contestable. It will remove all assets from TAFE Queensland, introduce HECS student loans to make students pay even more for training, and restrict access to places at TAFE for many students. In fact, the recent Queensland budget announced that campuses will be opened up for use by for-profit providers and 38 TAFE colleges look likely to close.

We need more skilled workers. We have employers calling out to people from around the world to come over on 457 visas because they cannot find enough skilled workers in Queensland and other parts of Australia. We need more plumbers, more electricians, more carpenters and more fitters and turners. The Labor government helped 21,000 Australians access an apprenticeship through the Kickstart initiative. Thanks to Labor, senior high school students across Australia have better access to trade training centres. However, we have also seen TAFE fees soaring in many places. It has disastrous consequences when these fees go up, particularly for poorer families—and especially when someone is the first person in their family to go on to higher learning.

In Queensland we have seen a crazy situation where some fees have now increased tenfold, or 1,000 per cent, which is way beyond the reach of ordinary working people. For example, a Diploma of Sustainability course in Cairns went up from $439 in 2013 to more than $6,000 this year. This information is from Curtis Pitt, the state member for Mulgrave. Her son's ambition is to work in film and television and the fee for that course rose from $3,000 in one year to more than $20,000. Those fees make such courses out of the reach of ordinary Australians, particularly poorer Australians. Despite the empty words of those opposite, we are not seeing an improvement in long-term unemployment or in opportunities for young people.

Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This government stands for employment solutions to work, not for employment dissolution to welfare. Gilmore's unemployment rate was the fifth highest in Australia, at 9.3 per cent, when Labor left government last year. Those opposite cry crocodile tears over budgetary reallocations. The redirection of taxpayer dollars is an obvious result of the failed program measures of the last Labor government, when an extra 200,000 people were looking for work. Those opposite should be ashamed. Our current unemployment is the legacy of six years of Labor government that promoted handouts, bonuses and carbon tax compensation without any sense of a return from the recipients, with no proper audit and certainly with no measure of delivery outcomes.

Those opposite have absolutely no idea. To condemn a young unemployed person to a life of welfare dependence is the very pathway to a lack of self-esteem, progressing to social isolation, depression and possibly antisocial behaviour. The plan to encourage re-engagement through volunteering is a proven method of revitalising people and growing their self-confidence.

This government is getting on with the job of repairing the cracks that the Australian Labor party left in our economy. We are getting on with the job of restoring business confidence, creating 1 million new jobs and getting the budget into black. It is those on this side of the House who truly care about employment and Australia's future prosperity, rather than welfare horizons as far as the eye can see.

Gilmore is one of just 18 trial sites for the government's revamped and revitalised Work for the Dole scheme. During the next few months, over 800 local job seekers will have the opportunity to learn new skills, get work ready and contribute back to the community that has helped them get on their feet. With over 6,000 unemployed in my electorate, I am focused on bringing new opportunities and better skills to our people.

The government's 20,000 trade support loans will help restore the prestige of an apprenticeship and help our local youth in Gilmore get through the tough years that a trade apprenticeship brings. These loans will allow apprentices to buy tools or a vehicle, or to simply keep their head above water. Our scheme offers incentives for apprentices to complete their training with a $4,000 discount on their loan when they complete their apprenticeship. This actually supports TAFE education—which, by the way, is predominantly funded by the state government.

After all, why should a plumber, an electrician, a builder, a baker or any other kind of tradesperson be treated any differently to a university graduate? Without a builder to construct our homes, our offices and our city infrastructure, we would not have universities in the first place. In many towns across Australia, especially in rural and regional Australia, the highest income earners you will find are the builders, the miners, the plumbers and the bakers—as it should be. It is time to restore the prestige of an apprenticeship and that is just one thing this government is doing to get Australia, and our unemployment rate, back on track. Labor's so-called support for manufacturing and workers has to be questioned when associated jobs were lost at a rate of 67 a day. That equals one job lost every 19 minutes; what a disgrace. Industries like the Shoalhaven Paper Mill or the Port Kembla steelworks used to employ tens of thousands of people between them under the last coalition government. Since Labor's election in 2007, we are now lucky to see that total more than 1,000.

We are also investing in older Australians with our $10,000 restart grant for businesses who employ workers over 50. This is a strong incentive to employ some of our wisest and greatest assets in the Australian workforce. The electorate of Gilmore has one of the highest numbers of these wise residents in the entire country. We have over 20,000 age pensioners who make up a strong, experienced and mature workforce and we are proud of that fact. This initiative will be part of our efforts to reduce our chronic local unemployment, as well as the Green Army project, which is an amazing initiative. This government is in the business of creating a strong economy and keeping jobs for Australians. I am in the business of fixing Gilmore's unemployment rate.

There have been many occasions in the last 12 months where I have spoken in passionate terms about the devastating effect of the Labor Party's carbon tax on regional employment. Those opposite have no concept that for a small, local, family owned business the huge increase in electricity cost causes them to think twice about employing young people for part-time employment. They simply cannot afford it. It was easier to just do it themselves so they could stay ahead financially, and so employment for young people chronically dropped. I was in business for almost 20 years. I know full well how important work experience and work confidence is for a new employee. Having employed more than about 150 people in a period of 20 years, I know exactly what skills they need. We do not do young people any favours by not encouraging them to start volunteering or to get their initial work experience. Ultimately, the efforts of these initiatives and the efforts of this government will lead to a much greater potential for growing paid employment for every unemployed person.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The discussion is now concluded.