Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Skills Week 2012 runs from 27 August to 2 September. This government has a proud record of investing in jobs, training, skills and education. We have invested $15.6 billion in skills and training over the next four years and $700 million in the National Workforce Development Fund. It is making it easier for businesses and employees to get the training they need. Locally, in my area Local Connections to Work has seen 754 people receive assistance through the Centrelink office in Ipswich, with job placements of 157, and 181 people getting education and training placements.

This stands in stark contrast with the LNP state government in Queensland, where Campbell Newman, the Premier of Queensland, recklessly, irresponsibly and stupidly called Queensland 'the Spain of Australia'. It is good enough to tell the investors overseas—and Tim Nicholls, the Treasurer, told people in Beijing—that Queensland is a great place in which to invest and a stable and attractive place. And then coalition members in Queensland peddle the myth about a $100 billion debt that Queensland has. In fact, three LNP members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland yesterday apologised to the house in Queensland for incorrectly and inaccurately saying this.

It is simply a myth. It was a result of a commission of audit led by a supposedly independent person—that is, Peter Costello, the former coalition Treasurer, who was paid $140,000 to do this. Then they came up with this concocted notion and set about sacking 20,000 public servants, including 4,000 in Health alone. They cannot even get it right in this regard, because they have had to redefine what 'temporary' and 'front-line' services are to make sure that they can sack as many people as they possibly can.

And Campbell's Queensland will become Abbott's Australia if the shadow finance minister has his way, as reported in the Australian Financial Review on page 1 today. He wants to outsource federal government services and activities.

The coalition spokesperson used the word 'duplication' in relation to this. That is code for cuts to jobs, cuts to funding and cuts to services. We are seeing that in Queensland. The Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative of the Queensland Labor government was one such program. I have here a press release and media story after media story—from the Kilcoy Sentinel of 24 May, from the Queensland Times of 1 June 2012, 10 July 2012 and 11 July 2012, and from the Ipswich Advertiser of 11 July 2012—all praising this program and the funding that has been delivered for jobs and training for young people and for disadvantaged people.

Then on 16 July they got the razor gang out, and John-Paul Langbroek, the Minister for Education, Training and Employment, said that Queensland could not afford this. He said, 'Employment services are the responsibility of federal government'—and this comes from a character who is actually the Minister for Education, Training and Employment. He says they cannot afford it. He calls it a $19 million program. It is interesting: letters were sent out dated 16 July, and he was in the media in Queensland—after praising this program and saying this wonderful service is being delivered—saying that it was a duplication of federal government programs and we should get rid of it.

This was all happening a week before Deloitte Access Economics delivered a report on this program dated 23 July 2012 which said that 57,000 people had got jobs as a result of this program, including 8,500 who would not have got jobs. It will have delivered $6.5 billion to the Queensland economy by 2020—$1.8 billion in extra consumption in the Queensland economy, and $1.2 billion in state government tax revenue. This is a program that is doing its job, cut a week before the report commissioned by the Queensland government actually comes out. $4.5 million in jobs training funding in my electorate has been cut by the Campbell Newman government. That is short-sighted, reckless, irresponsible and a disgrace. They should have a look at themselves. What they are doing to Queensland—in terms of job training and funding and services to health, with jobs going everywhere across the whole state—is a disgrace. (Time expired)