Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

There are many important matters that members who are elected as part of our government come into this chamber to pursue: our national security, our engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and keeping Australians safe. But one of the key matters that this government was elected on was on the basis of ensuring that we continue to create jobs for Australians right around the country. Whether it is up there in Tasmania, up there in North Queensland, out in the suburbs of Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane, or in the great state of Western Australia our government was elected on the platform of doing what was necessary to create jobs. More than 1.5 million jobs have been created since this government was first elected. We're going to create another 1.25 million jobs. That's what we took to the Australian people.

Unemployment, since we were first elected—and I note it was rising at the time—has fallen from 5.7 per cent to 5.1 per cent. In 2019, 260,000 jobs were created by the hard work of Australian businesses and Australian men and women going out there and making things happen in an Australian economy that has been supported through the proactive and enlightened economic policies of this government, which is about ensuring that this government lives within its means and Australian businesses can get out there and make things happen and create jobs right across our economy.

It is true to say that the youth unemployment rate is lower today than it has been at the past three federal elections. We have a plan to deliver employment to another 250,000 young Australians, because if a young Australian gets a gob it changes their life. One of the greatest achievements of this government is reducing the level of welfare dependency in the working-age population to the lowest level in 30 years. Do you know how you do that? You get young people into jobs, and that's what our government is committed to doing. That's what our government is passionate about: creating jobs. They don't happen by accident. They happen by getting the tax burden down. They happen by ensuring that the government lives within its means. They happen by rolling out $100 billion infrastructure plans, ensuring we are delivering the projects on the ground. They happen by expanding our trade borders. They happen by investing in skills education and making that a priority, as we took to the last election. They happen through projects like the Youth Jobs PaTH, which was opposed by those opposite, which gets people into jobs and gives businesses the opportunity to put people in regional areas into jobs. Our government is about jobs. The opposition spends each day talking about petty politics.

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