Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Green Army Program) Bill 2014. It is a great pleasure to make a contribution on this very important piece of legislation. The Green Army says much about our government's commitment to the environment, to real and practical environmental programs, and to investing in skills and training for young people.

In my first speech in this place, I spoke of the importance of caring for the environment for me and for the people of my electorate. Corangamite is a beautiful part of the world. It includes incredible coastline, surf beaches, national parks, precious creeks, rivers, rainforests, rolling farmland and of course the mighty Great Ocean Road. Many people move to my electorate because of their love of the environment. In my first speech I said that the Liberal Party has a strong tradition of practical environmentalism. It was the coalition which established stage 1 of Kakadu National Park and ended whaling in Australia. It was the coalition which put the Great Barrier Reef on a sustainable footing a decade ago. We are now delivering a 15,000-strong Green Army and tackling climate change. I commit myself to being a passionate defender of our precious environment.

In the contributions we have heard tonight from the member for Parramatta and the member for Newcastle, it was quite incredible that they said we must do everything to address youth unemployment. What do they think this scheme is? This scheme is about investing in young people, building pride, giving young people the opportunity to work in a team and to learn new skills. It is a very positive scheme with very important safeguards, which members opposite seem to be ignoring. Perhaps it indicates that those opposite do not really understand what it is like to be young and unemployed, because sometimes it is really tough to get your first job in full-time paid employment.

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