Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This bill for an act to amend the law relating to social security for related purposes opens the door of opportunity for the Green Army projects to be rolled out. The Green Army is a hands-on, practical, grassroots environmental action program that supports local environment and heritage conservation projects across Australia. Young Australians aged 17 to 24 will have a chance to gain training and experience in environmental and heritage conservation fields, and explore careers in conservation management. Our youth will build on their levels of self-confidence, while participating in projects that generate real benefits for the Australian environment.

Green Army teams of 10, up to nine participants and one team supervisor, will be working across the country to help local communities deliver local outcomes. The Green Army Programme is ongoing, and initially up to $300 million is available over three years from 1 July 2014. The program will support 250 projects this year, 500 in 2015-16, and 750 in 2016-17. We have heard that those opposite see this proposal as a way of displacing existing workers. There is apparently considerable confusion on the other side about the program rollout. These Green Army projects are not a part of the existing project line-up of works for councils, but are additional wish list projects that currently have no money for labour.

The previous Green Corps projects were extremely well coordinated, with an excellent array of courses that equipped young people with skills and a work ethic that enabled them to enter the workforce, and many of them did. This is not designed to be a direct work pathway, but more importantly it is a preparation to be work ready, to be work motivated, and to have a successful outcome behind them so they have something to build on for their future. In no way is the Green Army a substitute workforce, and to interpret this legislation in that way is just wrong. Those opposite even refer to these young people as volunteers. One of the previous speakers used this exact term. These young people are not workers, they are volunteers, and as a consequence there are different regimes that support this scheme.

The previous schemes were effective and successful, trying not to be distracted by red tape implications. This legislation is about people and human capacity. This truly is a value for money initiative, with overlapping benefits. A sound approach to our future is to have different portfolios overlap for increased benefit. So how do we evaluate the interaction between youth initiatives that build self esteem, the environmental benefit, and the economic benefit of the future? To coldly dismiss the human capacity of our unemployed youth is callous at best, and discriminatory at worst. Environmental repair does not have to be done solely by experts. In fact some catchment management authorities actively advise that bush regeneration can be achieved in overgrazed paddocks by simply closing the gates.

Green Army participants will most likely be engaged full-time for around about 30 hours per week on a project, and they will undertake formal training in areas such as work readiness, conservation and land management, heritage conservation, leadership, project and human resource management, and trades. Where possible the young people who are part of this scheme will be assisted to obtain Certificate I or Certificate II qualifications. Extra units may also be undertaken towards more advanced levels. All participants will be paid an allowance.

The concept of a group of young people working on an environmental project for community benefit is not new to Gilmore. In the past there were a number of very successful Green Corps projects. Many of the mangroves and casuarinas on the banks of the Shoalhaven River are testimony to the great work that was done. Over the last years, Charlie Weir has become the celebrated mangrove man, working as an amazing volunteer to continue this work, growing and planting seedlings to prevent riverbank erosion since the program was shut down by the previous government. The Rivercare group are eagerly awaiting the resumption of this great program.

Some of the participants from those earlier programs found a love of the outdoors, going on to get work on golf courses, with landscape businesses and bush regeneration projects, and even treating noxious weeds. But, overall, the self-esteem developed by these young people is beyond financial measure. The skills learned then are also expected from the new programs, including the development of effective workplace communication and the development of confidence and motivation to remain strongly connected to the community and community service activities. This is an opportunity to develop a work ethic, including team work, and achieve a level of personal positive growth. These are practical skills and attributes that are relevant to gaining ongoing employment, and the training options are some of the best foundations for future work. The additional aspects of the Green Army projects where planning, problem solving and progress review are essential will always stand these young people in good stead for future employment. In addition, they will have a chance to develop a network of industry contacts, training providers and community members. These provide opportunities for ongoing employment and training, assisting them to make informed career and work choices into their future based on the experiences gained from the project.

Gilmore already has a commitment for four Green Army projects and I will be proud to see them start in the new financial year. One project is based on the bushland area near Jerrara dam. This is an area in Kiama that has been worked on for many years by Neil Hawkins and landcare groups to re-establish native species and replant many of the trees that were harvested for timber in the settlement days. This arboretum will gain low-impact pathways, possible plant identifiers and bush regeneration. Eventually, the local community would like to see an outdoor classroom in this location.

The second project is in the Killalea State Park, part of the South Coast Network and established in consultation with the Shellharbour City Council. The rangers and training teams are well prepared and well structured for the benefit of the young people to be involved. This a missing link between two significant and iconic locations, Shellharbour village and Killalea, providing tourism outcomes and opportunities for local residents. This is a great connection between a built-up urban area and a spectacular passive environmental area with famous surfing beaches.

In the Shoalhaven, we need urgent riverbank treatment to prevent further flood scouring and to maintain the land mass between farmland, a road reserve and Bolong Road, which is an alternative route for the South Coast when the Princes Highway is closed due to accidents. This project will have the combined efforts of council, farm owners, Rivercare and businesses, all working with the Green Army for a great outcome. A second Shoalhaven project in Lake Conjola builds on the original work carried out by a similar program more than 20 years ago, but the work was not completed. The foreshore needs repair and extensive replanting is required to protect the edge and preserve the area.

The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Green Army Programme) Bill 2014 has a multitude of benefits for many, initially by allowing the appropriate financial set-up and support systems so that it is responsible in the way the taxpayer dollar is used and, more importantly, by allowing young people who wish to engage with their community to have an opportunity to learn work skills and team contribution and to build self-esteem. At the same time, the community will gain from the human potential being expressed and the improvement to an environmental asset. There would be very few who would not recognise the amazing potential of this scheme, particularly in a regional area with significant levels of youth unemployment.

It is important with this bill that we ensure that the young participants will be in receipt of a single scheme of taxpayer financial support. The Green Army allowance is a great way to assist these young people while they get involved in a program that already has a proven record of success in Gilmore. The only possibly disappointing part of this program is the dark cloud developing from those members sitting opposite and their colleagues in the Senate. Mr Deputy Speaker, you might ask why this is the case. The Green Army Program is part of a suite of changes that will allow young people the right to get training and participate in a great community project. It is possible that those on the other side of this chamber may choose to block these changes in the Senate. They may put their political agenda as the most important task they have in this House rather than the welfare of our unemployed youth.

For six months now, I have witnessed legislation placed before the members opposite that had some incorporated Labor commitments that were stated and advertised before the last election. Yes, I did say we have taken some of their commitments into our own legislative agenda. What is the reason for my concern? Those opposite have rejected these very pieces of legislation in the Senate. There is absolutely no consistency at all. As a new member of parliament, I find this somewhat confusing. We are 150 representatives for our nation and I believe we are here for the overall betterment of Australia. One of the most significant issues for us all is, of course, youth unemployment.

Many Australians who are usually not too interested in politics are also confused. We have all been waiting for the Senate and those opposite to realise that they actually lost the election. The overall vote in Australia told us that the everyday Aussie wanted a change in direction. We went to the election with a very explicit set of commitments. The Australian voters have put their faith in us to fix what we all saw as a nation in decline. Signals such as debt climbing to levels never seen before, unemployment by Labor's own estimates set to increase and policies made on the hop with little thought as to the consequences all made Australians vote for change.

The Green Army Program is symbolic of this change. It is environmentally worthy. It offers personal growth for many unemployed youth to re-engage with the community at so many different levels, and it is part of a legislative program for change. There are many groups in Gilmore eagerly awaiting the rollout of this program. In fact, there are community groups that have given me additional possibilities for other sites where this program would work and work well. The projects in Shellharbour, Kiama and the Shoalhaven will most likely address the needs of some of our Indigenous youth who have yet to gain employment. In particular, our Indigenous young people find it a great way to mix with other members of the community. The level of cooperation between young people of many different experiences and backgrounds who have never before worked together or socialised is heart-warming.

We as a community need projects like the Green Army to engage youth, to grow their potential and capitalise on their ability to really get involved, which is very often their most important desire. I wonder if those in opposition have any idea how projects such as the Green Army will change the lives of these young people, build their self-belief and reinforce to the community at large that they have the potential to give back to their nation, that they are wonderful contributors and that they are valuable and worth our every effort to re-engage. We owe these young people our assistance in the construction of their self-belief, as they acknowledge their own value and growing confidence. We owe it to them to help them to stop living in a holding pattern of unemployment and disengagement. In so many cases this can lead to social isolation, depression and other mental illness behaviours. I wonder if those opposite have the courage to put aside their political agenda for the sake of our youth. The moral fibre here is to look after our young people rather than look after our own political position. Surely, that is our task, first and foremost. Will those opposite cast doubt, yet again, on such a great initiative? Will they finally decide that, for the greater good of our nation, they should allow this legislation to actually pass in the Senate?

Perhaps it is also time for those opposite to acknowledge that pure ideology is no justification for their 'no' position on the repeals of the carbon tax and the minerals resource rent tax—both of which are impacting on the ability of businesses to offer employment. This impact is not just on our youth but also on other people unable to find employment, although they truly do want to work. These two taxes increase input costs on business, slowing growth and reducing the bottom line—both of which are reducing potential employment. Our youth, our Australian families and our businesses are all experiencing the negative fallout from the political posturing of those opposite. Our government as a whole owes to the people of Australia stability and a positive financial outlook that will lead to opportunities in employment.

The Green Army is a very symbolic example of a program that encapsulates optimism for the future. We have a difficult legacy to overcome, and the Green Army is one step in addressing youth unemployment. That should be a priority for us all. Previous speakers referred to the naivety of this program. I invite all of you to come to Gilmore to see the successful evidence of the work done. Talk to our Rivercare and Landcare groups rather than spruiking ill-informed opinions. Come and see with your own eyes and talk to the supervisors, who cannot wait to see the program reintroduced. I commend this bill.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the amendment moved by the member of Port Adelaide to the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Green Army Programme) Bill 2014, which is before the House. The fundamentals of this program are, after all, very much part of Labor's heritage, stretching back more than 20 years to a Keating government initiative introduced in 1992. The program, then called the Landcare and Environment Action Program, or LEAP, focused on providing work opportunities for young people and fostering good environmental outcomes. These are core Labor values, and we are proud to have supported this program through its various iterations under the governments of the last 20 years. While Labor continues to support the Green Army initiative in principle, the amendment moved by the member for Port Adelaide is absolutely needed to broaden debate on this bill to allow much wider discussion than one focused solely on social security entitlements. This debate needs to address a wide range of issues, including how participants are protected if injured, what training is or should be provided, what supports will be provided to assist people to actually make the transition into ongoing employment and what risks there are for displacement of existing workers. It is only prudent to do so.

Labor agrees that we need to do everything we can to get people into work. We know well the dignity that comes from having a job. Every individual who can work should be given that chance. But we know that can only happen with appropriate support and protection. Regretfully, the government, as expected by the people whom I represent in Newcastle, has not laid out the detail required for a proper analysis or discussion of this program. If we take a look at this program from the point of view of it being perhaps an environmental initiative, then we really need to look at this government's environmental record, because this government lacks all credibility when it comes to the environment. Its record in just six short months is truly astounding. From climate change to heritage icons, from conservation to shark culls, it is wreaking havoc across the whole portfolio. One is left wondering if this government is looking to send the Environment portfolio the same way as Science, and obliterate it from the government benches altogether.

Soon after coming to office, the Abbott government began rushing through a series of highly controversy environmental approvals. While rubber-stamping approvals that actually endangered our environment, the government also missed important opportunities to protect it, like with the disallowance of the endangered community listing of the River Murray from the Darling to the sea. The government also went against all reason and advice and sneakily had the world's largest marine reserve system reproclaimed to undo the management plans that give it effect. The management plans for the marine reserves were based on extensive scientific analysis and informed by serious community and industry consultation. Twenty years of hard work—work that started under the Keating Labor government and, indeed, continued under John Howard—is all now thrown out the window. Not satisfied with the effective abolition of Australia's marine reserve system, the Abbott government has also begun the process of handing over extensive environmental approval powers to the states, giving Campbell Newman control over the Great Barrier Reef and allowing Colin Barnett to reign over the Ningaloo Reef. Environmental sites of national significance are now being controlled by state based interests—an act that flies in the face of all common sense and good practice.

This government has also all but abandoned efforts to have Queensland's Cape York region added to the World Heritage List and has approved every request for development in the Great Barrier Reef catchment that has landed on the minister's desk. It has given these approvals despite UNESCO threatening to list the Great Barrier Reef as being in danger. But it does not end there. Sharks in Western Australia are on this government's hit list, too, with the minister approving an exemption to the WA government to allow drum lining off the coast despite the complete lack of evidence that it will have any effect in reducing shark attacks. It is not just members on this side of the House that are against the shark cull. The member for Bowman also publicly called for a hold on shark culling. When originally approving the initial cull, the environment minister used a mechanism designed for national security issues to do so. This is all despite the fact that more people die from bee stings each year in Australia than shark attacks. This Abbott government is systematically destroying our international reputation on the environment. In fact, that is how it won its first award. In November last year, the government won the Climate Action Network's international 'Colossal Fossil of the Year Award'. I read from the network's website an explanation of the awarding of the fossil:

The new Australian Government has won its first major international award – the Colossal Fossil. The delegation came here with legislation in its back pocket to repeal the carbon price, failed to take independent advice to increase its carbon pollution reduction target and has been blocking progress in the loss and damage negotiations. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!

To wrap up their impressive environmental record, most recently the government has approached the World Heritage Committee to de-list 74,000 hectares of Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, while the new Liberal Premier of Tasmania has promised to tear up the Tasmanian forest agreement. This is a devastating outcome for the Tasmanian economy as well as the environment, and this government's record on the environment is shameful by any reckoning. It is this government to which we will be entrusting our young people for the Green Army Program. The government has been entrusted with one of the greatest honours in public life: to protect and promote Australia's magnificent natural assets. Instead it is intent on destroying them, and the Prime Minister is not embarrassed for the whole world to know what he is doing.

But let us have a look at whether this program is in fact intended to be a form of labour employment program. We need to have a look at issues of protection for workers health and safety, workers comp and rehabilitation. We on this side of the House think that the bill in question today does not provide adequate protections for participants in the Green Army scheme, namely in the areas of workplace health and safety, workers compensation and rehabilitation. If the government were truly concerned about these matters, they would ensure that the participants are deemed employees and, as such, are covered by a range of Commonwealth laws, including the Fair Work Act, the Work Health and Safety Act and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Given the bill provides alarming exemptions from those acts, it is imperative that the consequences of such exemptions be considered in detail—detail that is yet to be presented. This government makes a point that people are to be paid a comparable training wage. If that is the case then why are participants not treated as workers? Like everything, Australians are right to be suspicious of the motives of this government. The government has made clear that health and safety and looking after those who need help to get back on their feet are not priorities.

The government is also seeking to deceive the Australian public into believing that this is an environmental program, because they do not have a coherent environmental policy. But make no mistake: this is an employment program and, as such, participants should be treated as employees. We acknowledge that the Green Army participants will be paid at the equivalent of a training wage, which while not overly generous will be more than the income support payments that many of them would likely be on. These payments will also be similar to the training wages received by thousands of other young Australians who are in vocational training and education. But, unlike trainees or apprentices, participants in the Green Army are under the supervision of the Commonwealth. Denying them the status of Commonwealth employee leaves them in a no-man's land in terms of employer-employee relationships, which afford a range of workplace rights.

A further concern of Labor is the concept of additionality or the potential to displace existing workers from other agencies and organisations. The government must assure those hardworking Australians in local government and other organisations and authorities that their employees will not be displaced and they will not rely upon Green Army participants to do their work. This is a very real concern. I have noticed in our own community the shedding of jobs in local government and the influx of volunteers doing a whole range of local government work. That is something that we need to be particularly mindful of. Volunteers are to be congratulated for the outstanding work they do in communities, but this should not be at the expense of displacing people in paid work. There is simply no justification for a program like the Green Army that can provide employment pathways if the participants then go on to displace existing workers. The pathways provided need to be new jobs, not supplementing good jobs that already exist. This potential displacement needs to be addressed by the government in its design of the program. We currently have no detail to give us confidence that this will not occur.

This amendment to the social security legislation as proposed by the government omits much of the detail related to workers rights, benefits and protection. The associated statement of requirements is equally thin on detail. Unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment, causes great hardship to individuals, their families and their communities. Entrenched unemployment also undermines the economic strength of Australia. Labor believes in helping people to get a job through the right training, work experience, incentives and, most importantly, the appropriate level of support. I must digress slightly and emphasise that this is another reason why Labor is such a strong supporter of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Access to formally recognised training delivered by a registered training organisation under the Australian Qualifications Framework is noted in the statement of requirements as an optional component of the program to be negotiated with each participant. That is right: optional registered training. This gives no confidence that participants will actually gain access to training.

The government is seriously short on detail when it comes to the training components of the Green Army Program. In which vocations and skill sets will training be provided to participants? Are these areas that have been identified by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency as areas of emerging future skill needs? If they have not been identified as areas of emerging or future need, why have these been selected as priority areas of the government?

Labor supports providing training to young people but believes that this training should be aimed at providing them with marketable skills that are in demand by employers. In May 2011, AWPA identified a number of areas of emerging future skill needs in the green and energy efficiency skills sector in their report Energy efficiency in commercial and residential buildings: jobs and skills implications. AWPA identified that energy efficiency initiatives call for jobs and skills in auditing and reporting, installation and maintenance of energy efficient appliances to meet revised building standards, assessment of new and existing buildings against rating systems, monitoring data output from energy management systems, tuning buildings for peak performance, marketing new and existing buildings in both commercial and residential sectors and drawing up green leases. In the green and energy efficiency skills sector, we have the opportunity to ensure that Australians have the skills to contribute to our response to the challenges of environmental sustainability. The government has a real opportunity to provide our young people with jobs for the future in this area and to provide a pathway from training to employment in this emerging industry. The training provided to young people needs to be accredited, it needs to have quality assurance, it needs to be meaningful and not just tick-a-box training. There is no work experience better than paid employment in a real workplace with serious support mechanisms to ensure all young people get to reach their full potential.

Labor believes that environmental based work and training programs can be an effective pathway to work for many job seekers, as well as providing environmental benefits. Workplace training programs have the potential, if well designed and implemented, to achieve these twin goals. If we do not address youth unemployment, there will be massive future costs—not just in terms of welfare and social support, but also in terms of an individual's lost opportunity.

Just last month I raised in this place the concerning youth unemployment issues faced in my electorate of Newcastle and more broadly across the country. Proper, needs-based school funding, university and training opportunities are all issues that this government is not taking seriously.

Real employment is one of the cornerstones of sustainable communities and economic development. Labor agrees that we need to do everything we can to get people into work. Every individual who can work should be given that chance, but that can happen only with appropriate support. The government needs to entrust the Australian people with details of its Green Army program. We deserve nothing less.

Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Green Army Program) Bill 2014. It is a great pleasure to make a contribution on this very important piece of legislation. The Green Army says much about our government's commitment to the environment, to real and practical environmental programs, and to investing in skills and training for young people.

In my first speech in this place, I spoke of the importance of caring for the environment for me and for the people of my electorate. Corangamite is a beautiful part of the world. It includes incredible coastline, surf beaches, national parks, precious creeks, rivers, rainforests, rolling farmland and of course the mighty Great Ocean Road. Many people move to my electorate because of their love of the environment. In my first speech I said that the Liberal Party has a strong tradition of practical environmentalism. It was the coalition which established stage 1 of Kakadu National Park and ended whaling in Australia. It was the coalition which put the Great Barrier Reef on a sustainable footing a decade ago. We are now delivering a 15,000-strong Green Army and tackling climate change. I commit myself to being a passionate defender of our precious environment.

In the contributions we have heard tonight from the member for Parramatta and the member for Newcastle, it was quite incredible that they said we must do everything to address youth unemployment. What do they think this scheme is? This scheme is about investing in young people, building pride, giving young people the opportunity to work in a team and to learn new skills. It is a very positive scheme with very important safeguards, which members opposite seem to be ignoring. Perhaps it indicates that those opposite do not really understand what it is like to be young and unemployed, because sometimes it is really tough to get your first job in full-time paid employment.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And you do?

Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will tell you what I know. I travel around my electorate. I speak to lots of young people in my electorate in Colac, in Belmont and in the federal electorate of Corio. I can see the impact that this is having on young people. Through this scheme we are valuing young people. We are helping to build pride, we are helping to give them skills because for so many people, under the previous federal government, they sat there day without a job! This is a scheme that is positive, this is a scheme that we are proud of.

The Green Army will make a real difference to the environment and to the local communities in my electorate. As I mentioned, it will be a 15,000-strong Green Army by 2018—the largest standing environmental workforce in Australia's history. It will recruit local people aged 17 to 24 to give them the hands-on experience, the skills, the training to boost their employment prospects. Up to nine eligible participants will work on one project with at least one team supervisor. It is a very substantial commitment of $300 million over four years. The government will provide an additional $222 million in 2017-18 and $289 million in 2018-19.

In my electorate of Corangamite, we are very excited by four Green Army projects that were announced prior to the election—in Lorne, in Apollo Bay, in Colac and in Queenscliff. The project in Queenscliff is a really good example of why members opposite have got this so wrong. This is not about replacing people in work; this is about creating new opportunities. In Queenscliff there is a real problem with the foreshore. The local council could not get funding, so we have committed the money required to completely rejuvenate the foreshore and to build a boardwalk. In fact it was such a problem that a local, Alistair Lang, who runs the local IGA, started a petition and raised 1,000 signatures in his supermarket. People were so upset about the state of the foreshore and I really do commend the work of Alistair Lang and the many others who joined forces to say, 'We want some action'. We are delivering.

I also want to commend the Borough of Queenscliff, who has worked so hard to pull together plans to rejuvenate the foreshore as well as the Bellarine Catchment Network and the Swan Bay Environment Network. Queenscliff is a wonderful historic town with so much to offer and the rejuvenation of their foreshore will make an enormous difference. Also, in Lorne, there will be a major project at the Lorne St George River tramway track to the west of Point Grey. Before reliable road transport emerged in the 1930s, it was an extensive tramway network which enabled heavy loads to be— (Time expired)