Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, we have been through a year like no other, and Australians have experienced vulnerability in a time that has never occurred before. The need for secure jobs is a matter of great importance, which is why I'm happy to rise today to speak to the Morrison-McCormack government's outstanding track record in securing jobs for Australians, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. As things return to normal, albeit COVID-normal, the federal government is focused on economic recovery through job creation. Several measures announced in the 2020 Commonwealth budget aim to create jobs and to get Australians back into work, and recent figures demonstrate our recovery is well underway.

I'll just give some jobs data. At the onset of the pandemic, the effective unemployment rate rose to 14.9 per cent. The unemployment rate now is 6.6 per cent. Around 90 per cent of the 1.3 million people who lost their job or were stood down on zero hours in April are now back at work. Seventy-one per cent of the increase in employment this month was in full-time jobs—35,700 of them—with the remaining 29 per cent part-time: 14,000 jobs. In total, 784,000 jobs have been created since May, recovering 90 per cent of the 872,000 jobs lost between March and May. Fifty-four per cent of the total increase in employment has been for females. Youth employment has risen by 240,000 persons, making up 31 per cent of the total increase in employment since May. Employment increased for the third consecutive month in Victoria, and employment in the state is now at its highest level since March.

Employment opportunities are also growing in Mallee, I'm pleased to say. Data from the education, skills and employment department known as the Internet Vacancy Index displays vacancies for jobs on popular employment websites. It shows that, prior to COVID-19, there was an average of 600 jobs posted online; that dropped to 418 by the month of May. In November 2020, there were 757 jobs advertised online—and seasonal workforce vacancies and needs are not part of that number.

Young people remain the most heavily impacted cohort, with employment for this group at 4.7 per cent lower than in March 2020. We know from previous recessions in Australia that it takes a long time for young people to move off the unemployment queue and back into work, up to 15 years from the last recession.

These points demonstrate why getting young people back into work is so important—hence the JobMaker hiring credit for jobseekers. Two hundred dollars a week is available to each employer and eligible additional employee aged 16 to 29 years, and $100 a week for eligible additional employees aged 30 to 35, and that's why those ages have been chosen. One billion dollars in the JobTrainer Fund will be focused on assisting people to retrain and reskill in the face of expanding labour markets. It aims to rapidly provide more Australians free or low-cost training places and courses in areas of identified need.

$1.2 billion has been invested by this government to subsidise apprentices and trainees, and it's called Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements: 50 per cent wage subsidies for all businesses to take on new apprentices and trainees between 5 October 2020 and 30 September 2021. I'm really pleased to say that many businesses in Mallee are making use of this subsidy, including the Mildura Truck Centre, who were able to take on several new apprentices, thanks to the subsidy.

I've also recently heard from Robin Kuhne from Workforce Partners Australia about this fantastic program. Workforce Partners Australia partners with businesses in Mallee to assist them to employ new apprentices. They employ apprentices who are contracted out to other employers to provide agile support to industry. Workforce Partners Australia has supported the commencement of 65 new apprentices that will be eligible for the wage subsidy. That's 65 young people getting a start in their career, and numerous businesses growing as a result. Workforce Partners Australia covers three of the biggest towns in Mallee and the three where the skills are most needed: Mildura, Swan Hill and Horsham. Robin said the fantastic thing about the subsidy is that employers are looking to employ two apprentices instead of one, because of the subsidy. (Time expired)

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