Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk to the 130,000 young Australians that leave school and cannot get a job, the 157,000 Australians who transition from Youth Allowance onto Newstart every year. For them, it does not have matter how wealthy Australia is, they are completely dislocated from opportunity. We need to do better than we have.

I see in the gallery number of people who work in industry, who get their hands dirty and who have been lucky enough to get a trade and have a career. But not everybody has that. Many, by virtue of where they live or by virtue of their family situation, mental illness, poverty or for whatever reason, have not been able to secure that start in life and it is not good enough.

We started with Work for the Dole in the mid-90s but work experience is what Australians need. Young people should not be dislocated and despondent and given no hope at all. They need to be put cheek and jowl l next to real workers to be able to build their experience. Allowing work experience to exist for four weeks a year for a young person to give themselves their first chance to build a resume, first chance to build some confidence, and first chance to be the right place at the right time is key. We need to take those young Australians. It is not enough just to be on a transition of applying for jobs and having no hope. We need to give them real world, real life experience that has never been offered by the other side of politics. We will do that. The message from the coalition is simple: we will connect you with real work, give you experience and give you a start in the private sector where the opportunity to grow the economy lies.