Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Hansard source

I had the good fortune to attend a number of jobs forums in Sydney’s west. The member for Banks is one of a number of members on this side who know how difficult things will get in their communities for jobs. I do appreciate him being there and talking to me about what we can do at a local level to assist those communities in the area of employment and training.

This government understands that job losses can be very devastating for workers and their families. We understand that it is a difficult thing to confront and overcome in many instances. I say to you, Mr Speaker, to the chamber and to the community via this chamber that this government will continue to do whatever we can to assist workers. On 24 February the Prime Minister announced a $300 million initiative package to help retrenched workers by providing immediate and personalised access to services for those workers in need. That followed the $145 million initiative, the out-of-a-trade apprenticeship initiative, that will provide opportunities and incentives for employers and group training companies to employ apprentices that find themselves out of work or laid off by employers in very difficult times. There is also a further package of assistance for those young people who want to get into apprenticeships but need preapprenticeship training and support. That is a $30 million initiative that has been put forward by the government so that we can provide support for those young people.

In his earlier answer to a question, the Prime Minister remarked that this government will, of course, implement a $650 million Jobs Fund. That is available to local communities across Australia to provide opportunities for them to create jobs, to build on skills and to develop the sustainable social infrastructure needed for those communities. Already we are hearing some magnificent ideas from small businesses, not-for-profit organisations and others about how we can assist those local communities to do well in what are, of course, very difficult economic times. The new Jobs Services Australia will commence on 1 July this year. These services are indeed—

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