Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McGrath for his question. Senator McGrath and I had the opportunity last Thursday to attend a jobs fair in Caboolture when the labour force figures actually came out. It has been acknowledged that it was a difficult January. Despite this and against market expectations, we saw in January 2020 the creation of over 46,000 full-time jobs. That was against market expectations. We saw a net increase of 13½ thousand jobs. This means that over the year to January 2020 we have seen employment increase by almost a quarter of a million jobs.

We now have a record number of Australians in employment. Just under 13 million Australians are now in work. That is a record high. We also have a record number of Australians in full-time work. Additionally, we continue to see a record number of women in employment. We have record female participation, and I am pleased to say that two-thirds of all new jobs for women are full-time jobs. Again in January we saw an increase in the participation rate. What does that mean? It means that Australians are putting up their hands and they are saying that they have confidence in the jobs market and they are ready, willing and able to work.

Since we were elected to office in 2013, the policies that the coalition government have put in place have now supported the economy in creating over 1.5 million jobs. We will continue to put in place policies that enable job creation in Australia.