Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corangamite for his question. Earlier today I was at the Canberra Institute of Technology meeting with some apprentices and with Parliamentary Secretary Jason Clare was trying my hand at some trade skills. Needless to say I was not very good at the welding; Parliamentary Secretary Jason Clare was far better at it. But apart from trying our hand at trade skills, we were there to look at the great facilities and the new equipment that have been funded through the government’s Better TAFE Facilities program as part of our nation-building infrastructure package. Of course, this investment is part of what has kept 200,000 Australians in work during these days of the global recession and these difficult economic times.

Earlier today as well the labour force figures for the month of April were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and they show that the unemployment rate has remained steady at 5.4 per cent. In April employment increased by 33,700 to just over 11 million Australians employed. We have got to look at this result in the context of what this nation has achieved during the global financial crisis and global recession. Let us remember that our Treasury predicted when this started that unemployment would reach 8½ per cent. Today’s figures confirm the benefits of economic stimulus and the benefits of the nation working together to keep people employed during this economic challenge. And we should note that Australia has created 225,000 jobs in a period of time when nations around the world were shedding employment. The recent budget has updated our unemployment forecast. We expect unemployment to continue to fall and to be at 4¾ per cent by the June quarter of 2012.

This does mean that economic stimulus has been supporting jobs, and I am asked about recognition of the investments for economic stimulus and the good that they have done. I am pleased that I can advise the House that I received a letter from Abbotsleigh, from a school, about their Building the Education Revolution program. The letter from Judith Poole, the headmistress, reads as follows:

Thank you for your recent letter regarding the opening ceremony for the new Junior School infants wing and early learning centre last weekend. The chairman was delighted to read out your good wishes to the 1,100-strong crowd as part of the official ceremony. Please find enclosed a copy of the official program and photos of the plaque and unveiling. The weather was kind to us and we have received glowing reports from all that visit the Junior School on the high standard of facilities that government funding has enabled us to provide our local community.

I thought that was a wonderful letter, a fantastic letter of recognition, and with some excitement I went to look at the photograph of the unveiling of the plaque. I thought, ‘That’s fantastic. I’m so sorry I could not be there but let’s have a look at the moment when the plaque was unveiled.’ What did I find? I found a photo, and who would you believe is on it? It is none other than the member for Bradfield—so famous for opposing Building the Education Revolution in this House that he actually got thrown out of the parliament because he was so opposed to Building the Education Revolution. There he is standing next to the unveiling of the plaque.

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