Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment Participation. Will the minister outline the history of efforts by the Commonwealth to engage the states and territories in a national approach to employment participation and the government’s current approach?

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hindmarsh for that important question. There is no doubt in my mind that the member for Hindmarsh has spent much of his time fighting for workers, and I know it is therefore very appropriate that he ask this question. Two weeks ago I convened a ministerial roundtable of state and territory ministers to discuss employment services and those matters that affect employers and job seekers in this country. Indeed it was the first meeting of its type in more than a decade. I am happy to advise the House that in attendance were all governments, other than the Western Australian government. They did indicate that they could not make that particular meeting, and I sincerely hope that they are in a position to attend the subsequent meeting. But it was a very fruitful meeting, because we discussed those things we have in common in terms of government responses to job seeker needs and the needs of industry and employers.

The facts are that we can do a lot more in coordinating our resources collectively as governments in assisting the unemployed and in assisting employers who are looking for skilled labour. Therefore, it was a fruitful meeting, and we decided to have a subsequent meeting in the new year to further consider what more can be done in relation to the state, federal and territory governments working together in this area of public policy. This joint approach by governments is critical, particularly in confronting the challenges of the most significant global financial crisis since the Great Depression, so it was very important that we took that approach.

It is also important to remind the House that the government were reforming employment services well before the global financial crisis hit. That means we are in a very good position to respond to the challenges that lie ahead for job seekers and for employers as the consequences of the economic slowdown take effect. The government’s training agenda, furthermore, was also initiated before the global financial crisis, because the government anticipated the needs of the nation and was indeed redressing the deficiencies of the previous government in not addressing skill shortages in this country. We had a training agenda that commenced at the beginning of this year, but of course we have added to that agenda as a result of the global financial crisis. The government’s training agenda will provide 309,000 extra places for job seekers over the course of the next five years. In keeping with the government’s approach to employment, as the Prime Minister just indicated, we announced this week the New Car Plan for a Greener Future, a $6.2 billion injection into the automotive industry over 13 years, again illustrating the fact that the government will always be about job security, job creation and job training. That is a Labor priority. In the government’s heart of hearts, we believe that employment is critical to national growth and we believe that we must concern ourselves with the plight of working people.

One of the reasons we have had to redress the skill shortage and reform employment services is that those opposite while in government did not do enough to reform employment services and did not do enough to formally address the training needs of this country. We know the reason why. It is that many of those opposite see workers as units of labour only. They do not see them as workers struggling hard to look after their families and their communities. They do not concern themselves with the interests of working families generally. In stark contrast, the government have acted swiftly and decisively in initiating a $10.4 billion package to protect and create jobs in this country, to stimulate the economy and to protect the interests of vulnerable Australians. As a part of the Economic Security Strategy, we have announced a $187 million allocation for an additional 56,000 training places this financial year. So we are making sure that we respond to the needs of workers and the needs of industry in this country. That is why we will continue to work with state and territory governments, industry and job seekers to ensure that they are better off as a result of our policies.