Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the fact that yesterday the government voted for the hiring credit in its amended form. Why did the Prime Minister this morning change the government's position and oppose Labor's amendments which protect existing workers from being sacked and being replaced by cheaper workers?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We don't support Labor's amendments because Labor has delayed the certainty for business that is required through the JobMaker hiring credit to help support 450,000 jobs. I explained to the members opposite that we have seen in previous recessions that it has taken a long time to get people from the unemployment queue back into work. Indeed, in the 1990s recession it took 10 years to get the unemployment rate back below six per cent from where it started before the recession. For younger people, it took a full 15 years to get the unemployment rate back to where it was before the recession. We understand that young people have been hit hard in this crisis. The unemployment rate today for those aged 15 to 34 is 10.2 per cent. This compares with an unemployment rate of 4.7 per cent for those aged 35.

This whole program is designed to get people who have been on JobSeeker, who have been unemployed, into work with a minimum of 20 hours a week. The government is providing that economic support to that employer to tip the balance in favour of a new hire. So if you are 16 to 29, you're taken on by an employer and you do a minimum of 20 hours a week, the government will provide that employer with $200 a week. And if you're aged 30 to 35 and you're taken on for a minimum of 20 hours a week, the government will provide that employer with $100 per week. This is a vitally important program, and it's part of a series of initiatives from this government designed to support the creation of more jobs across the Australian economy.