House debates

Thursday, 5 March 2015

Adjournment

Newcastle Electorate: Employment

11:45 am

Photo of Sharon ClaydonSharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise today to share with the House the perilous state of employment in my electorate of Newcastle and to show how the actions of the Abbott Liberal government are making things worse. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics regional labour force data released last month showed that unemployment in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie had reached its highest level in more than a decade—10 per cent, more than double the rate when the Abbott Liberal government took office. We have not seen unemployment rates in Newcastle in double digits since 2003 when the now Prime Minister was Minister for Employment Services in the Howard government.

Every week I field calls from distressed local employers telling me that they are having to let more people go—and there is no sign of it stopping. Just yesterday local shipbuilder Forgacs announced that they had been forced to tell more than 100 employees they have no job, with their entire workforce in danger of losing their jobs by Christmas. Last week, Downer EDI announced that 59 workers would lose their jobs from their Hunter operations. The week before, steel supplier Martensite Australia shut the doors to their Tomago operations, with another 20 jobs in the region gone.

These are just a few of the large-scale losses that are being reported in the media, but we know that the detrimental impact and ramifications flow down and impact into the wider regional economy. Many smaller job losses are going largely unreported but they are no less damaging to the health and wellbeing of the workers and their families, who are affected. One of the most distressing factors for the workers losing their jobs—beyond the immediacy, of course, of losing their livelihood—is the lack of opportunity for employment in the near future. Losing your job is not liberating, as the Prime Minister may have us believe. It is a traumatic and often life-changing experience. Some in the Newcastle community are experiencing it for the third or fourth time.

While not all job losses can be blamed on governments, both state and federal governments do have a role to play in creating the right economic conditions for employers to prosper and to operate with confidence for the future. On this front, the Abbott liberal government is failing. After 18 months of this government, we are yet to see a plan for Australian jobs or a plan for industry. The actions they have taken are creating further headaches for industry and investors.

In Defence, they are sending vital naval shipbuilding work offshore with HMAS Success and HMAS Sirius to be replaced by ships built in Spain or South Korea. They continue to threaten to send submarine production the same way. The lifeline they did throw to Australian shipbuilders in June last year to construct 20 replacement patrol boats dangled perilously for nine months before the Minister for Defence made the announcement this morning to finally move to go to tender for these projects. But these delays are costing hundreds of workers their jobs. I again call on the Abbott Liberal government to treat workers with respect and to act in the national interest by committing to a long-term rolling build of our naval ships in Australia. There is no time to waste.

Another area where jobs of the future could be created is the renewable energy sector. This is a large and successful industry in Newcastle, but again, government actions are hampering efforts. The industry has been struggling ever since the Prime Minister appointed a climate sceptic to review the Renewable Energy Target, in February 2014. In 2013, Australia was ranked in the top four most attractive places to invest in renewable energy, alongside the powerhouses of Germany, the US and China. Australia is now ranked 10th in that list. While worldwide investment in renewable energy grew by approximately 16 per cent in 2014, Australia's investment fell by nearly 90 per cent in the large-scale sector.

The Liberal government's approach to renewable energy is costing jobs and undermining investment in Newcastle where researchers and innovators are delivering scientific world-leading breakthroughs. Rather than supress innovation, investment and employment, the Abbott government must end the uncertainty for this very important industry of the future. Committing to naval ship building and the renewable energy sector is the bare minimum that workers in Newcastle deserve and are entitled to. Until we see this commitment, and a genuine plan to support Australian jobs and industries, and particularly jobs and industries in my electorate of Newcastle, I will continue to stand in this parliament and fight for local jobs in my community of Newcastle. That is what my constituents elected me to do.