Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every government has a different agenda and different priorities, items it feels are more important than others, and it's up to the government of the day to prioritise what it feels are the most important issues. In many cases, both sides of politics have the same agenda items to address. We may differ on which items are the greater priority, and we will probably deal with the same issue in different ways. That's democracy and I respect it.

One of the major issues facing our society today is how we deal with at-risk youth. I speak about those 14- to 24-year-olds who, for whatever reason, have lost their way, have no hope in their lives and, in many cases, have been given up on or labelled a lost cause by society. Unfortunately, this cohort are responsible for a large percentage of mischief and crime, which is very disruptive and costly to the rest of their community. That is why I was so disappointed that this government has decided to cut the $50 million seventh round of the safer communities program from the budget. In round 6 of the program, under the coalition government, Worklinks, in my electorate of Longman received $1.5 million in allocations. I'm pleased to say that after just two months—having spoken with one of the facilitators of the course—and out of 24 participants, seven youths who were deemed unemployable and were told that they would never amount to anything are now gainfully employed. This is the stuff that changes lives. Please reconsider and reinstate this vital program that everyone benefits from.