Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The thing that young people know is that, if you've got a job, it's a lot easier to get another one, and the thing that older workers know is that, if you lose your job, it's a lot, lot harder to get another job. For 950,000 Australians who are over the age of 35, it's about to get a lot, lot harder. I'm referring, of course, to the government's latest plan, which is going to pit older workers against younger workers. Now, don't get us wrong; we think it's great that younger workers are going to get a shot at a job. But where are the protections for older workers? You do not have to be Einstein to understand that, if you give businesses a few hundred extra dollars to employ one group of younger workers, it's going to be a disincentive against older workers. Even the member for Hughes could work that out. But those opposite simply refuse to acknowledge that there's a problem here. What a kick in the guts for those middle-aged workers who are struggling to put food on their tables and a roof over their heads! It's pretty clear that, if those opposite spent as much time working on the details as they do on the marketing and the spin, this problem would not exist. It's time to give the older workers of Australia the fair go they deserve.