Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I have to completely reject the premise of the question. Given that the unemployment rate was 12.7 when they were in government and 11.7 per cent now, the unemployment rate is clearly lower than it was when the Labor Party were in government. So I reject that part of the question. The level of youth employment has increased by 1.2 per cent to a record high of 1.963 million over the year to August 2019. We continue to grow employment at all levels, including youth employment. We continue to grow employment, and we continue to put in place programs to assist young people to get into work. And we won't be lectured by the Labor Party, who have opposed programs to provide opportunities for young people to get into work.