Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Youth unemployment is an issue not just in my electorate or in Central Victoria but across the entire country. Currently, there is a perfect storm brewing for young people who are trying to get their first job. The economy is slowing: 0.6 per cent is not good growth. Employers are turning to cheap backpacker labour, and there has been a collapse in university graduate positions, trainees and apprenticeships. This is happening right now.

It is heartbreaking when you meet a young person who says, 'I've applied for 200 jobs and barely a handful have responded to say I've been unsuccessful. I keep rocking up to my appointments as requested, but there simply aren't jobs available.'

It is true that there are fewer jobs today—those entry-level jobs—than a generation ago. Take Bendigo Thales, which used to be the old ordnance factory: today they have two apprentices; a generation ago they had 100. That example alone demonstrates the lack of apprenticeships available today compared to a generation ago.

It is not just in my home town of Bendigo in Central Victoria where youth employment is high at 18 per cent; in areas like Townsville, you have parents who say, 'Our kids just don't get a look-in when it comes to hospitality jobs. Restaurants and cafes look to cheap backpacker labour. They go straight to the hostels and recruit from there, and our young ones don't even have a chance.'

A university graduate based in Ballarat, Geelong or Bendigo like me said: 'I have a university degree, but there is nothing in my field. I've applied for a few jobs but failed to get past the interview stage, because they say they are looking for someone with at least two years experience. I am ready to start the rest of my life, but it feels like I am still trapped in a university time warp. I am still working casual retail jobs, taking any shift that I can get. Sadly, I'm still eating two-minute noodles and sneaking home in the hope that my parents can do my washing.' That is the sad reality for too many of our university graduates stuck in a part-time, university-style time warp when they just want to get on with a graduate job.

Our government, our public service, is hiring fewer graduates today than a generation ago. Our businesses are taking on fewer graduates today than a generation ago. It is harder today for our young people—people who are under the age of 30—to get a start in a career.

Prior to the 2014 budget, this government cut lots of money from this space. In their 2014 budget, they cut more money from this space: vital money for skills and training. Since they have come to government, they have cut a billion dollars from skills and training to ensure that our TAFEs, our businesses and our organisations involved in training this generation of young people and apprentices will get a start.

A large proportion of the employment that is available to young people—that is, part time and casual—particularly in hospitality, is going to overseas backpacker labour. This issue needs to be looked at. In my area of Castlemaine, work at our local bacon factory is going to overseas backpackers. People used to take a gap year, work at Don KR, earn enough money to qualify for youth allowance and have a little bit extra. However, this year, those gap-year positions were not available; instead they went to overseas backpackers. Why is it cheaper? Because they work for an agency that pays an award that undercuts the collective agreement.

Sadly, these are not isolated incidents. When you have almost equal numbers of local young people, who are unemployed and looking for work, to overseas backpackers of exactly the same age, we have a problem that we need to address. We need to be serious about creating job opportunities for the next generation.