Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This year has been tough—tough for those who have lost their jobs, tough for the businesses that have closed and tough for our essential workers. This government is not delivering for those who are doing it tough. It is too focused on the press releases and it is not focused on the details. We need to get this recovery right, a recovery that focuses on rebuilding good, secure jobs and a recovery that works for all Australians. We need the plan for this recovery right now. Why right now? Because a million Australians are unemployed, 1.5 million Australians can't find enough work and another 400,000 Australians are predicted to lose their jobs by Christmas. That is a lot of people relying on this government, the Morrison government, to deliver a plan for jobs now.

Let's talk about today. Today the national accounts have recorded Australia's biggest ever fall in GDP, and we are in the worst recession in almost 100 years, a recession that will be deeper and longer if the government decides to leave people behind. What is the Prime Minister's plan for Australians who've lost their jobs, who fear losing their jobs, who are leaving school in just a few months time and are looking to this government for some hope for their future? Is it a plan to boost manufacturing? No. Is it a plan for big, nation-building infrastructure? No. Is it a plan to create more-secure jobs? No. It's a plan to cut people's incomes and support—a plan to cut JobKeeper and JobSeeker while people are still struggling and while they are looking for some hope from this government.

Australia is in the worst recession since the Great Depression, but this still isn't enough for the government to deliver a jobs plan. Australians need the government's help to get back on their feet. They need a plan for jobs, not a plan to cut their income. We've all heard the stories: a small factory employer who had 200 applications for one job in 48 hours. We've seen the stats: there are at least 13 job hunters per job vacancy right now. But earlier this week the government insisted that people need to re-engage with the workforce. You can only re-engage with the workforce when there are jobs there to re-engage with.

The Prime Minister needs to stop with the slogans and deliver a real plan—a plan that delivers what this government promises. He is pretty big on announcements—I'll give him that—but he is small when it comes to delivery. This government has promised $314 billion in support to Australians—sounds good, right? But the government has delivered a quarter of this. How about their plan to support small business, which promised $40 billion? That also sounds pretty good. How much of that has been delivered? Do you want to take a guess? It's five per cent. What is the government waiting for? We are in the worst recession in 100 years. We have a million people unemployed and 1.5 million people underemployed. What are you waiting for? Now would be a good time to deliver what you've promised. Now would be the right time to make good on the string of announcements that you've put forward, because these failures to deliver are costing jobs now.

Let me say—because it seems that you on the government benches need to hear it—a real jobs plan does not include bashing the Victorian Premier, Dan Andrews, into easing restrictions too early. Victorians see straight through this. They're doing it really tough right now but they know—we know—that the current restrictions are what's needed to keep the COVID numbers down. We don't want it to be for nothing. So beating up on the Victorian Premier to open up despite the health advice is not a jobs plan. It's a distraction. You know it's a distraction, and you know that it is a dangerous distraction. I'll tell you what Victorians actually want. They want a real plan from the Morrison government for jobs. That's what they want. They want backup and support from the Morrison government.

So here are some ideas. How about rebuilding and revitalising Australian manufacturing? How about getting started on some big, transformative infrastructure projects that will improve people's lives and deliver jobs? How about reversing the decline in job security that you have presided over for the last seven years of your government? We have had seven years of insecure work under this government. There was no plan from you prior to the pandemic, let alone now, to rebuild secure jobs in this country. There was no plan to get wages moving even prior to the pandemic.

The pandemic has shown that it's too often our most essential workers who are in the most insecure work—and we've relied on them in this pandemic to get us through. They need much more than our thanks; they need to see change. Today is Early Childhood Educators' Day, and we need to celebrate the amazing work that they've done. These essential workers have been there for families throughout this crisis. But the government hasn't been there for them. They cut them off JobKeeper three days before they said they wouldn't be cutting anyone off JobKeeper. Early childhood educators are the people you decided to cut off JobKeeper, and then you did nothing to secure their jobs during Victoria's stage 4 lockdown. One Victorian educator, Kerrie, put it best. Referring to the Prime Minister, she said: 'He treats us with contempt and shows no respect.' I know that many aged-care workers feel the same way. They've faced appalling conditions and their calls have been ignored.