Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very proud to be the representative for the rural electorate of Braddon in the great state of Tasmania. I'm also a proud former employer and small-business owner in the agricultural sector within the state. I understand, like most business owners understand, the connection that we have to our employees. I know what it's like to employ people when work downturns mean it's difficult to pay them each fortnight. But I also know what it's like to make them a priority.

I would like to commend all the small-business owners and employers that we have within the great state of Tasmania and the wonderful connection that they've maintained with their employees. They've stood by them, and they've looked after them. To bolster this, so too have the Australian federal government, the Morrison government, supported our small businesses in doing that. Our initiatives have been aimed in keeping people in work, keeping them connected to their employment—keeping that job open so that when this downturn finally remedies itself then those employees can resume life as normal. Minister, I applaud your work and all that you've done to make that happen, particularly in my electorate.

Our budget this year, 2021-22, is focused on creating jobs, and rightly so. We understand that small business is the engine room of our economy; it is paramount. Our employment pathways have been designed to get people back into work, and they include assistance for those who face greater risks and challenges in the labour market. The government, as part of the budget, will deliver a new, streamlined employment service model. This model will create a modern and sophisticated service to replace jobactive. It will be an effective, efficient digital service to support and enhance face-to-face engagement with providers in linking jobseekers to employers. I'll admit that, in the past, this process has been clunky, and to that end I congratulate the minister on improving and streamlining it.

We've tried to make it easier for jobseekers to connect. As part of our budget there will an $80.8 million investment in the Digital Services Contact Centre to enable responsive, person-to-person assistance for jobseekers in the digital services area, for those who wish to self-manage their way back into employment. Under this new reform, the government is investing $481.2 million to expand and strengthen the government's youth specialist employment service. It's a great initiative. It's a transition back to work for them. This service will provide extensive, time limited assistance for an average case load of around 40,000 young people who are at risk if they don't transition into employment or further education. We need to link them to a light at the end of the tunnel.

In addition to this, $129.8 million will be provided to redesign and streamline self-employment and small business support under the new model. Under the New Business Assistance with New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, services will be simplified. There will be enhanced eligibility, with the number of places expanded to 12,000. This can only be a positive thing for young people getting into work. Our 2021-22 budget also targets measures to support local solutions, to better connect jobseekers, employment service provides, employers and training organisations.

Minister, I'll take this opportunity to thank you for taking part in the jobs fair that we conducted in the Devonport region in my electorate of Braddon. It was very well received. The positive feedback that I received was overwhelming, so I thank you for that. We are doing what we can, where we can, and I congratulate the minister on making this a tailor-made fit for our regions in particular. We understand that they have peculiar difficulties when it comes to connecting jobseekers to jobs.

Minister, I will close with a question. My question to you is: how will this budget continue to create jobs, continue to promote small business and continue our economic recovery, particularly in the state of Tasmania?

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