Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be able to make a contribution to the debate on this motion on employment moved by the member for Gorton. One aspect of the motion that I do agree with is:

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recognises the extraordinary contribution of Australian rural and regional workers to their communities and the national economy ...

We all recognise that, and that is the only point in the entire motion on which I concur with the honourable member for Gorton.

The member for Gorton introduced his motion by saying that the state election on Saturday in Victoria was an indication of the Victorian public’s repudiation of the industrial relations laws of this government. One thing is for sure: this week, because of their national day of action, there will be motion after motion and claim after claim which will be made regarding Work Choices and a willingness, suddenly, to lay at the feet of the federal government all that has happened in Victoria. I pose the question to the member for Gorton: is the repudiation of the industrial relations legislation reflected in the four per cent to six per cent swing against the Labor Party in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne? The eastern suburbs of Melbourne were heavily targeted by the Labor Party and the swing there was four per cent to six per cent against them. Contrary to what has been said, Work Choices has worked.

I have visited regional and rural Australia, as has the member for Gorton. Perhaps we were not speaking to the same groups or the same people, because the story I get is quite the opposite. Since March 2006, when Work Choices came in, we have seen a record number of jobs. Jobs create prosperity; jobs create an opportunity for families to get on. Jobs create these things—not unions. A union cannot guarantee a person a job and a government cannot guarantee a person a job and prosperity. What can of course are economic conditions. The Howard government has created the economic conditions necessary for prosperity and for jobs growth. Since March this year we have seen over 205,000 jobs created, providing an opportunity for a lot of people, often for the first time, to have an income and provide for their families.

Contrast that with the Labor Party’s record when there was high regulation. There was strong industrial relations regulation during the eighties and the nineties. When the member for Brand, the Leader of the Opposition, was Minister for Employment, Education and Training, the unemployment rate peaked at 10.9 per cent, with over one million Australians out of work. That was in an environment of high regulation. What have we seen since March 2006? We have seen extraordinary levels of employment growth, with over 205,000 new jobs being created.

In some of the regional towns that I have been to, and others that we know of, we have seen the growth take place. For example, the unemployment rate in the electorate of Capricornia—Rockhampton, which the member for Gorton apparently visited—was 10.1 per cent in June 2006; today it is four per cent. Therefore, we are seeing jobs growth taking place. Another example is the New South Wales electorate of Charlton. In 1996, the unemployment rate in the electorate of Charlton was 11.2 per cent. In June 2006, the unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent. In 1996, 44 electorates had double-digit unemployment rates and many of these electorates covered the rural and regional areas of Australia. In June 2006, not one electorate had double-digit unemployment. Can I also say—

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