Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course we've all been looking with interest at the disturbing downgrading of the growth predictions by the IMF today, with the Australian growth forecast dropping from the modest 2.8 per cent that was predicted to a much sadder 1.7 per cent. We know that the most disadvantaged Australians will feel the impact of this slowing growth more than most, and I would like the House to turn its attention today particularly to unemployed young people. What we saw in Europe—in particular Greece and Spain, for example—during the global financial crisis was a generational hit on unemployed young people. In Greece, unemployment amongst young people went from 21.7 per cent in 2008 to 58.2 per cent in 2013. Now, in 2019, it's still almost 40 per cent. There are similar figures, of course, in Spain. In Australia, our young people are twice as likely as older Australians to be unemployed, at about 12.2 per cent unemployment. But some parts of Australia have levels similar to those of the countries that are doing worst in Europe: 23.3 per cent in Coffs Harbour, 25.7 per cent in outback Queensland and 17½ per cent in Bendigo. We must do better for young Australians.