Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That the:

(1)

Government’s proposals for reform of Youth Allowance stand condemned for failing to:

(a)

protect young Australians who had relied on the rules as they were to plan their progress to higher education and now find themselves in limbo, unable to access Youth Allowance and in the middle of their ‘gap year’ with their dreams of higher education shattered; and

(b)

recognise the reality of the employment market in rural and regional Australia by demanding young Australians work thirty hours a week for eighteen months to qualify for Youth Allowance, a requirement that is clearly beyond the scope of most rural and regional young people, thereby snatching away their dreams of changing their lives though higher education;

(2)

Government reconsider its reforms of Youth Allowance with a view to adopting the Coalition’s commitment to:

(a)

amend the start date for the abolition of the gap year provision from 1 January 2010 to 1 January 2011 to help those young Australians currently on a gap year;

(b)

look after regional and rural students with a targeted scholarship program that will help thousands of needy students from the country who do not qualify for Youth Allowance assistance; and

(c)

fix the ridiculous situation under the Government’s proposal where young people in rural and regional areas will be looking for full time work (30 hours per week) for 18 months so they can qualify as independents;

(3)

Government recognise its failure to comprehend the disadvantage that rural and regional communities suffer as a consequence of distance, extra costs and a wear jobs market in reforming Youth Allowance in such a way that rural and regional students are even further disadvantaged and isolated from mainstream education opportunities; and

(4)

Members for Flynn, Capricornia, Dawson, Leichhardt, Lingiari, Wakefield, Eden Monaro, Bendigo, Ballarat, Corangamite, Hunter, Macquarie, Page and Richmond demonstrate their support for young people in their electorates by voting with the Opposition in solidarity with the people they represent.

Leave not granted.

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