Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will do my very best. I want to refer to the previous speaker's comments about my home state of Tasmania. I was terribly surprised to see him start to lecture Tasmanians after the results of a little less than a fortnight ago, when Tasmanians spoke as clearly as they possibly could have about what they thought about the lack of consultation and the damage that has been done to my state by the Labor-Greens alliance, and supported by the previous federal Labor government. There was no consultation with broader communities, and there was the devaluing of something that all Tasmanians—I will say it plainly here today—are proudly supportive of, and that is our World Heritage estate. We have an outstanding estate in Tasmania. What the previous government, my former state government, which was so swiftly swept into opposition two weeks ago, failed to understand was that it was devaluating that wonderful World Heritage estate. By including in the World Heritage estate valuable working forests that have sustained regional communities for generations—in areas that included quarries and rubbish tips—Tasmanians spoke very clearly.

I would like to tell you a story about a man on the east coast of Tasmania that I became aware of. Many years ago, he was given an opportunity under the Howard government Work for the Dole scheme. The work that he was engaged in was building a stone wall in the seaside village of Swansea on the east coast of Tasmania. I should also mention that at 29 years of age he had never had paid employment, and it was Work for the Dole that gave him an opportunity to participate in a team and explore skills that he did not know he actually had. After that period of time he discovered that he was actually very good at doing the work there and that he enjoyed the opportunity of going home to his family, to his wife and to his children, and saying, 'I did something worthwhile.' To his enduring credit, he was motivated enough after that Work for the Dole program to approach a local farmer and seek formal employment. To the enduring credit of the local farmer, 15 years later that worker is still there. It just goes to show what a fantastic opportunity and what a fantastic experience that program had been. In fact, that worker is living proof of the value of this kind of work training program to both individuals, in this case, but also to the community more broadly. I quote a Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset:

An 'unemployed' existence is a worse negation of life than death itself.

In the opportunity that this young man was given, he understood the value of having a job. It is not just about money; it is absolutely about self-respect—the individual's self-respect and, also, the respect that came from his family and his children, who saw him contributing to his community.

The Green Army can provide thousands of trainees with skills and experience and enhance their employment prospects while participating in projects that generate real and lasting benefits for the environment but also for their community. I see this, also, as an enormous benefit to my state of Tasmania and the country more broadly. It is a 'no-brainer', in the colloquial. This government's Green Army program has the potential to be one of the most successful in our country's history. It will become Australia's biggest ever environmental workforce, building to 15,000 participants by 2018 and being capable of delivering 1,500 on-the-ground environmental projects across the country. It is an important and practical initiative, as I will outline. In line with Mr Hunt's portfolio of clean air, clean land, clean water and the protection of heritage, the Green Army falls under the clean land part of that portfolio and the plan we have for the nation's environment.

There is also Landcare reform, with a theme of 'simple, local and long term'. I can say to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that this is music to the ears of the farmers and volunteers that are so committed to Landcare reform in our country. Similarly, there is the project approval simplification via one-stop shops. This is, again, something that has frustrated so many proponents of worthwhile projects around the nation—not least of all in my home state of Tasmania.

Let's be quite clear, in response to the previous speaker: occupation health and safety is critical. In the case of the Green Army, all will be governed by the statutes, the regulations and the by-laws of state and territory regulations that come under the work health and safety acts. Service providers responsible for engaging and managing participants hold primary responsibility for health and safety of Green Army teams whilst undertaking Green Army project activities. I am very pleased that the government will implement a work health and safety audit scheme for the Green Army projects. It will be an audit of service providers and the projects—something that I do not remember occurring for the failed home insulation program that was launched in haste by the previous government. Quite frankly, being lectured by the opposition with regard to occupational health and safety and implementation, when you look at the NBN rollout and at the home insulation program, is hypocrisy of the first order. Naturally, all the appropriate insurances for relevant parties—personal accident and public and product liability insurance—will be put into place, consistent with previous National Green Jobs Corps programs. I would refer the previous speaker to those points.

In my electorate we are looking forward to cleaning up the Rubicon Estuary near Port Sorell. The 1,768 hectares site is widely recognised as one of Tasmania's most beautiful estuaries. The natural, social and economic values of the estuary and the region have made it home to one of the state's fastest growing populations. But its values have been drastically threatened by invasive estuarine weeds, particularly rice grass. A dedicated and effective eradication program is now essential to save the important environmental values of the Rubicon Estuary. When the project was first put forward, it described the 1,768 hectares as being widely recognised as one of Tasmania's most beautiful estuaries. Port Sorell is known also as the 'port of golden beaches'. The natural, social and economic values of the Port Sorell region have made it one of Tasmania's fastest growing populations. However, its values have been devastated, as I say, by estuarine weeds and particularly rice grass. The Narawntapu National Park and the Port Sorell conservation area are particularly threatened by these estuarine weeds, and a dedicated and effective eradication program is now essential to save the high conservation values of the Rubicon Estuary. It needs a substantial financial investment to kick-start a long-term eradication effort.

The Rubicon Estuary program is one of more than 150 projects that have already been committed to Australia-wide and will be delivered in the initial rollout. In addition, Minister Greg Hunt has called for further applications from local councils, community groups and natural resource management organisations to build the programs on the ground in the first 12 months to 250 projects nationally involving about 2½ thousand people. In my electorate of Lyons we will be keen to encourage groups to nominate potential projects.

Raising awareness is indeed critical. Every community, though, knows of issues that need fixing, that need arms and legs on the ground, be that cleaning up waterways, building infrastructure to mitigate against erosion on, for example, a coastal fringe or building a devil island. Green Army funding could finally see the giant Nile River log jam cleared after 16 years. A modest material contribution and people power are required to clear a jam that has taken on a life of its own. Significant unnecessary damage and flooding occurs on a significant portion of local farmer David Talbot's property every time it rains. Innovative projects no doubt will come from all around the country, and I look forward to seeing some of the very excellent projects that no doubt will come from your electorate, Deputy Speaker Broadbent, that we can use as examples in the future.

A dedicated Green Army crew could also rehabilitate the Wildwood property on the banks of the Mersey River at Deloraine. The property is owned by the local Rotary Club and is used for public recreation. It contains habitat for nationally threatened fauna such as the spotted-tail quoll, the green and gold frog, the eastern barred bandicoot and the Tasmanian devil. Participants would learn how to work on weed identification and treatment; development of a landscape plan; revegetation of native plants; and construction of tracks, tables, chairs, fencing and other infrastructure. These are practical life skills that will help the participants get real jobs at the conclusion of the project. Tasmanians in my electorate of Lyons can only benefit from the development and rollout of the Green Army into the largest standing environmental workforce in Australia's history.

Just as important as the environmental pluses for rural and regional areas Australia-wide will be the on-job training for young people who take part. Participants will receive a Green Army allowance as well as gaining valuable work skills and potential qualification in various areas of environmental remediation. Up to nine eligible participants and at least one team supervisor will constitute a Green Army team. The team supervisor will be engaged by the external service provider responsible for the program and paid a wage consistent with the gardening and landscaping services award. Just like the example in the Work for the Dole program at Swansea more than 15 years ago, the Green Army will provide opportunities for training for young Tasmanians between 17 and 24 years of age that will take them on to long-term employment opportunities.

Something like this is desperately needed in my home state and particularly in my electorate of Lyons, where youth unemployment is the highest in the country. One in five young people in my state are actively looking for work and unable to find it. According to the latest data, the unemployment rate among young people in some parts of the state, including my electorate of Lyons, is as high as 21 per cent, some of the worst in the country. The beauty of the Green Army training is that it will provide skills and discipline to set young people up for employment for life. Perseverance indeed is something that is a life skill that should be applauded.

I would like to quote Ronald Reagan, the former President of the United States:

We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.

We are a government that are doing what we said we would do. We are delivering on the commitments that we made to the Australian people before the 7 September election. We are stopping the waste. We are going through methodically and delivering programs that will benefit the people of Australia. We are paying back the $667 billion of debt that will be left to my children and possibly their children if we do nothing and the $123 billion of deficits that were left by the previous government. We are rebuilding trust in government and helping all Australians to get ahead. I commend the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Green Army Programme) Bill 2014 to the House

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