Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In Herbert—Townsville—the latest figures show the unemployment rate of people aged 15 years-plus has fallen from 11.6 per cent in February 2017 to 7.1 per cent in June 2019, based on 12-month averages. The total number of people employed in Townsville has increased from 94,300 in February 2017 to 106,600 in June 2019. The youth unemployment rate in Townsville for people aged 15 to 24 years fell from 22.4 per cent in September 2017 to 16.1 per cent in June 2019, based on 12-month averages.

The government's sound economic management in getting the budget back in the black, and infrastructure investment, have helped to achieve this. Small and medium businesses are being given the help they need to enable them to create employment opportunities but there's always more work to be done: these numbers are still too high. Our role in government is to create a healthy environment so that small and medium businesses have the opportunity to employ more people.

The Townsville City Deal is helping all levels of government work together to achieve great things for our community while creating jobs. Six-hundred and ninety-one new positions will be created over the three-year construction period of stage 2 of the Haughton pipeline, fully funded by the Commonwealth. (Time expired)