Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I join with the member for Parramatta in welcoming this motion on education retention rates and youth employment, and I congratulate the member for Fowler for the thoughtful way in which he has addressed this topic. It reflects very much on the member for Fowler. He is one of the true gentlemen of this place and I believe he is very sincere in his desire to help young people to achieve their full potential. He carries on the great tradition of members for Fowler in that regard. One wonders why he is not still the member for Werriwa, but that is one for the internal machinery of the Australian Labor Party.

I address my comments today to the issues of retention rates and to one of the key aspects of the motion of the member for Fowler: working with local businesses to give priority to local youth searching for employment. Education retention rates do provide a direct link to youth employment outcomes. Gippsland has one of the worst year 12 retention rates in Victoria, and subsequently we have a very low participation rate in higher education. Part of the issue is the aspiration amongst our young people and the value placed on education by some of the parents in my community—there is no question about that. We need to address that as a cultural thing in our community. The other big issue in terms of aspiring to higher education is the economic barrier. For kids from regional communities, there is no question that the costs of moving away to achieve higher education are a major barrier. It is why I fought so hard with this government on its changes to youth allowance. Instead of tinkering around the edges we should be having a complete overhaul of the student income support system, and it starts with the tertiary access allowance for all young people who have to move away from home to attend university. The simple fact that it costs country kids more to go to university than it costs city kids is a fundamental injustice we need to address in this place. I urge the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations to take a look at some of the ideas being put forward from not only this side of the House but also some of his own regional colleagues. Regional members understand that situation very clearly.

I am pleased today to see a media release put out by the Victorian government announcing a plan to ensure a long-term future for tertiary education in Gippsland. It comes from my good friend the member for Eastern Victoria Region, Peter Hall, who is a former schoolteacher. It outlines the decision to commission an expert panel to develop this plan for Gippsland. This plan is long overdue. We need to start working with our community to increase that aspiration and to make sure we have the right skills, education and training in place in the Gippsland community to secure a growing and competitive economy. I will not go through all details of the terms of reference now, but it is a process well worth undertaking. I commend the Victorian government for doing this.

The other aspect I will address is the issue of regional employment. The motion of the member for Fowler highlights that the fact that young people, particularly in his own community, have a higher than average unemployment rate. It is a very similar situation to that in my community of Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley. Small businesses are struggling at the moment. I do not believe the economic data is really reflecting that, but the reality on the ground in regional communities is that small- and medium-size businesses across the board are struggling, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors. There is a real softness there. People are not spending and we are seeing small businesses closing their doors on a regular basis. It is an emerging issue for us in this place to see what support we can put in place for the small business sector as we come to some fairly uncertain times.

As part of my approach to being a member of parliament, I promote the message ‘Putting locals first’. This message is about not only promoting the needs of my local community but encouraging my community to support local businesses wherever possible. It is a fundamental issue for people from regional communities to look after their own small businesses, which look after their communities. These are the small businesses who put money into our sporting club and community groups, who donate goods and who sponsor different activities. We should support them in return. It is a fundamental issue for us in regional communities to put locals first, by supporting local businesses.

On that point, I have an issue with Ministerial and Parliamentary Services at the Department of Finance and Deregulation relating to the opportunity for members of parliament to support local businesses when it comes to office requisites. I have written to the department in relation to this and have followed that up with a letter to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation. We are not allowed to support local businesses in our community by purchasing our stationery from local shops. I think that is a fundamental flaw in the procurement process and I will continue to pursue it with the Special Minister of State. I believe that when we are entering government contracts we need to ensure that we give local businesses the chance to tender for every job that is available in regional communities. (Time expired)

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