Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House:

(1) recognises that alongside national defence, there is no higher obligation on a Commonwealth government than to support and promote the employment prospects of its citizens;

(2) condemns the record of the Government which has seen:

(a) an unemployment rate at a 12 year high;

(b) more than 81,000 Australians added to the unemployment queue since the election of the Government;

(c) a record underemployment rate of 8.6 per cent;

(d) a youth unemployment rate of over 15 per cent;

(e) 190,000 people long term unemployed, more than any time since records began; and

(f) one in four unemployed people being long term unemployed;

(3) recognises that while support for small businesses is important to stimulating jobs growth, more is needed; and

(4) calls on the Government to invest more in education, training, industry and innovation policies to rectify this jobs crisis.

Besides national defence, there can be no higher duty of a federal government than ensuring the economic prosperity of this country and ensuring that every Australian who wants a job can find a job. Sadly, on this particular issue, this august duty, this government is failing this nation. This government is failing the nation on unemployment and it is failing the people of this country most grievously. If you look at the latest employment statistics, until very recently unemployment was at a 12-year high. Those opposite will probably refer to the latest monthly figures which, quite frankly, are somewhat suspicious, given the fact that most of the employment growth supposedly came from Western Australia, a state close to being in recession due to the collapse in the mining industry.

Mr Deputy Speaker, if you look at the other employment figures that are relevant to this debate, we have an underemployment figure of 8.6 per cent, the highest rate in this country since records began to be collected on underemployment. It is higher than during the 1980s recession and the 1990s recession. That is very concerning. We have a youth unemployment rate of over 15 per cent nationally. We have a youth unemployment rate in my home region of the Hunter of over 20 per cent. Just think about that for a second. One in five young people in the Hunter Valley who want to find work cannot find work. That is a grievous situation. We have 190,000 long-term unemployed. That is the highest number of unemployed people ever recorded in this country. What is even more concerning is that one in four unemployed people in this country are long-term unemployed; they have been unemployed for over 52 weeks.

This all paints a picture of an economy that is strong in parts but sluggish in others, an economy which is not providing the jobs growth so necessary to give Australians an opportunity to find stable, rewarding and fulfilling employment. That is a great tragedy. Ultimately it reflects poorly on this government, a government that came to power making commitments around supposedly creating one million jobs in this country over five years. The figure is nowhere near that. In fact, extrapolating from job creation figures over the last two years, the figure will fall 150,000 jobs short of that target.

Those opposite might point to monthly figures on jobs creation, but the real thing to consider here is where do we compare internationally? We have a higher unemployment rate than the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. That was not the case under the last Labor government—a Labor government that helped create 900,000 jobs during the global financial crisis and a Labor government that produced an unemployment rate that was the envy of the rest of the world. That is our proud record on jobs. It is a proud record that stands in contrast to the record of those opposite.

In the last budget we saw a small business package announced. We on this side welcome that. We welcome it in part because it was based on some initiatives that Labor had in place that those opposite decided to abolish. They have brought them back and they have expanded one. That is great and we support that, but it cannot just be that small business package that is the driver of jobs growth in this country. We need to do more on innovation and industry policy. That is something those opposite do not believe in, given the fact that they have cut $2 billion from innovation policy in this country. We need a renewed commitment on education and training and skills formation. That is something this government is so grievously lacking in, given the fact that they have cut $1 billion from training in their last two budgets.

We have a jobs crisis in this country. We have unemployment at around a 12-year high. We have the highest underemployment rate since records began. We have the highest number of long-term unemployed since records began. We have youth unemployment over 15 per cent. We have one in four unemployed people who have been looking for a job for more than a year. Urgent action is required. Those on the Labor side take job creation very seriously. It is our raison d'etre to provide the dignity of employment to as many Australians as possible. For those on the other side it is all about rhetoric. It is all about symbolism. It is all about demonising job seekers rather than helping job seekers. I am proud to move this motion. I am proud to stand up for jobs, alongside every other Labor member in this place.

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