Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He is talking about his military base. We have the great HMAS Cairns up there and we really welcome those members of the community. I think the member for Herbert would welcome the fact that we get a lot of people coming to Cairns to visit our region and see the Great Barrier Reef and the wet tropical rainforest. A few more come to Townsville, I must say, which obviously has the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Many of us wonder why it was located there and not in Cairns, but I am sure that is something that we could talk about into the future.

We are talking about jobs. Last week, as a lead-on from the $4 million tourism support package, we launched the tropical North Queensland webpage, cairnsgreatbarrierreef.org.au, which will be utilised to drive tourists to our local community. It is a portal where people can see the local experiences, whether they be at the reef or the rainforest, white-water rafting, some of the adventure tourism operations, the skyrail or other activities. The National Green Jobs Corps will play an important role in ensuring that the tourism industry, in terms of the icons that people come to see, is supported through making sure that we are doing work to provide people with jobs in the environment section during this downturn so that people can come to a pristine environment into the future. There are works like improving the Cattana Wetlands, fixing the green- or red-arrow walking tracks, replanting the green corridor along the Barron River or other corridor works that we can do at the Atherton Tablelands, the Cassowary Coast or the Daintree. That will all help us preserve and protect our local environment. They are the sorts of jobs that people working on the Green Jobs Corps can undertake.

This measure will provide another opportunity for people to be engaged in employment. In particular, it is another opportunity for young people who cannot find a job to get involved in work in the environmental area. It will enable them to build on the skills that they have gained already in life or to gain further skills, particularly regarding the environment. The projects will improve the environment now and will help develop green skills that will be used in the labour market in the future. Participants in the National Green Jobs Corp will undertake work experience and skills development, including 130 hours of accredited training, leading to a nationally recognised qualification. To encourage this training, we will provide a training supplement of $41.60 per fortnight to Green Jobs Corp participants on Newstart allowance, youth allowance and parenting payment. Young people with a partial capacity to work or young parents will have their hours of participation tailored to their assessed capacity.

We know that as school finishes there will be young people looking for work, and this is going to be an important measure. As I have said, in Far North Queensland people come to see the environment, but we are doing a range of other things in wanting to support employment up there. The jobs expo is planned for 9 December and I am looking forward to continuing to work with the Minister for Employment Participation, Senator Arbib, and others on this expo to ensure that we have in place a range of jobs across not only the tourism and construction sectors but also the mining and environment areas for young people who are leaving school. The Green Jobs Corps, I am sure, will be an opportunity at that expo for young people to come along and find out how they can become engaged in it. When you have unemployment at almost 14 per cent you need a holistic approach to tackling unemployment and supporting jobs during this difficult time.

You also need a strong partnership with the business community. We had our Keep Australia Working forum and now we have tagged it the ‘Keep Cairns working’ group. We have developed a strong partnership between Advance Cairns, the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Tropical North Queensland and the local council to work in partnership with the federal government on job initiatives. Green Jobs has been part of that plan. I have spoken already about some of the initiatives that we have with the tourism industry and the Minister for Tourism is here today in the chamber.

We have also done a lot of things in the construction area. We have heard members opposite support in principle the idea of this plan but then criticise cuts to Landcare or other measures, as we heard the member the Gippsland do earlier. The one thing he could have done to support jobs was vote for the Nation Building and Jobs Plan. In my electorate alone there are projects worth $220 million, and we are getting close to $460 million and more with the electorate of Kennedy next door. I know that members from Cairns are down in the member for Herbert’s electorate as well doing some construction projects. We are certainly getting great benefits from the construction industry and from the economic stimulus plan that we put in place. We need to continue to make sure that those projects are rolled out quickly and efficiently. We have had 300 social housing homes announced recently in the region, and it is important that we get those houses started as quickly as possible to support the local construction industry. Advance Cairns commissioned Cummings Economics, a well-known economic analyst in the Far North, to undertake a study of unemployment and the study showed that there was a real downturn particularly in unemployment in the construction industry and that there was a major need to support jobs in that area.

Our economic stimulus of $460 million in Leichhardt and Kennedy and the work that we are doing in places like Herbert has been particularly important in supporting plumbers, electricians, carpenters and apprentices in the range of construction jobs that are out there in those areas. It is particularly important that we roll those projects out as quickly as possible. Coming into the wet season, some of those school projects will get going early in the New Year, but they are a real confidence boost for the local community, in that we have a suite of initiatives that are about protecting jobs—whether they are in the environment, tourism or the construction industry. I am looking forward to the $9 million that the minister announced recently for new marketing opportunities and new initiatives in the tourism industry. I mentioned previously some of the business community that I worked with. I will continue to work with the Cairns Airport and Stephen Gregg, the new manager there, who is doing a good job, and also Tourism Tropical North Queensland, to develop a local package for Tourism Australia so that we can look to getting some further support for marketing the region in the Far North, so we can get tourists back and so we can support jobs going forward.

I talked about the construction industry. The other area that I think is important is Apprentice Kickstart. The Rudd government has recognised that there has been a large drop-off in the number of people being able to be supported in apprenticeships because of the global downturn and the recession that has followed around the globe. We are lucky in Australia that we are weathering the storm better than others, but with unemployment approaching 14 per cent we are being hit hard in Cairns. Minister Arbib was up in Cairns last week to launch Apprentice Kickstart with Skill360, a local group training organisation. They are doing a fantastic job up there and Troy Williams and his team should be congratulated. They are looking to really get out there and attract new apprentices into the industry, with the almost $5,000 in supplements that employers can now get to employ an apprentice.

There is a lot happening and there is a lot more that we need to continue to do by working in partnership with the business community, the local business community leaders, as the Rudd government is doing. I am looking forward to Advance Cairns, the Chamber of Commerce and the local mayor visiting Canberra next week. I am arranging a number of meetings for them to come and talk to ministers about some of the challenges we are facing and some of the other things that we can do in the tropical north, the Far North, to support jobs going forward.

I would like to thank the business community, the Mayor of Cairns, Val Schier, and the community leaders that have actively engaged with me, Minister Arbib, Minister Ferguson and others throughout these difficult times. This initiative is just another example of a tool in the toolbox that I have talked about in supporting jobs. We need to continue to support tourism and we need to continue to support construction. We are working on the environment area, particularly with young people leaving school soon. They can go to the jobs expo and they will be able to find out about the National Green Jobs Corps, but they will also be able to find out about other jobs—whether they are in the construction, tourism, mining sectors or other parts of the economy. We have a fantastic educational sector, with a university, a great TAFE and a developing marine skills training centre and an existing aviation training centre.

There is a whole lot of positive things going on about Cairns. I am actively engaged with my local business community and community leaders. I am actively engaged with the executive of the Rudd government, and I thank them for the support they are providing to me and my local electorate. I look forward to continuing to work with them and I welcome the initiative that the National Green Jobs Corps will provide. I know it will be welcomed in my community. I am looking forward to it being rolled out in Cairns and the Far North.

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