Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to speak this evening about the Green Army projects, Work for the Dole and the concept of mutual obligation for employment in our communities.

In the Parkes electorate the Green Army projects are just getting underway, and the first cab off the ranks, so to speak, was the Green Army project that was sponsored by the Macquarie Riversmart Project. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of going to speak with these young people who are working in a range of activities along the Macquarie River, whether it be weed control, helping with access or fencing. The day that I was there they were actually putting up interpretive signage at the Narromine Wetlands, which is a project that has been sponsored by the Narromine Rotary Club. I had an opportunity, along with the Mayor of Narromine and members of the Narromine Rotary Club, to speak to these young workers. Despite what people might think—that there would be a reluctance to have to work on a Green Army project—there was actually a great amount of pride and gratitude from these people that they had the opportunity to get involved in something worthwhile, learn some skills and, hopefully, come to the attention of a future employer who might be able to offer permanent employment.

The other election commitment we made for a Green Army project that is just about to hit the ground is one that I am very proud of. This is the Green Army project for the communities of Boggabilla and Toomelah. I am very thankful to Kylie Benge and Debby Baxter-Tomkins from the Moree Plains Shire Council, who have been instrumental in bringing this project along. This project is very important for the Gomeroi people in that broader river region because a lot of the work will be centred around the Boobera Lagoon. As you know, Deputy Speaker Scott, the Boobera Lagoon is where the electorate of Parkes meets the electorate of Maranoa, and it is also the resting place of the rainbow serpent. It is one of the most special places for the Gomeroi people, and those young people are involved with projects in weed control, fencing, cleaning up the surrounds there and making the Boobera Lagoon and the surrounding areas much more amenable for the local people to be involved in.

There are a range of other projects to be rolled out. With the Work for the Dole projects that will start on 1 July there is a great expectation from a lot of my communities that at last there will be something to get the young people engaged in meaningful work.

But there is something I would like to touch on in conclusion. It was obvious when chatting to those nine young men and women working at Narromine that none of those people had a driver's licence. While we focus on environmental certificates and OH&S qualifications with these projects, I think we need to put a little bit more thought to it. The provision of drivers' licences is a state responsibility; but, if we are seriously going to provide a program that will engage young people and enable them to go into permanent work, I strongly believe in the provision of training, whether or not that is an intensive driving course to obtain a driver's licence, because many of these people do not live in a household that has a registered motor vehicle. If it does, they certainly do not live in a house that has the finances to put petrol in a vehicle for the required number of hours to obtain that driver's licence.

I mentioned this briefly to the New South Wales Minister for Roads and Freight, Duncan Gay, a few weeks ago, and he was also quite supportive of looking at some way that we could maybe combine the resources of the states and federal government to include, maybe not in Green Army but possibly in Work for the Dole, the provision of getting people a driver's licence because, in regional Australia, if you do not have a licence, most of the work is out of town. (Time expired)