Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise today and speak in support of the Economic Recovery Package (JobMaker Hiring Credit) Amendment Bill 2020. This bill before the Senate today is an important part of the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. It is part of a record-breaking contribution in this year's federal budget to getting Australia back to work and getting Australians back into work. It builds on the massive support which the Morrison government has been providing to help Australians and Australian businesses through the COVID-19 crisis since earlier this year—critical measures such as JobKeeper, which has been credited with keeping so many businesses alive and so many people in work over the last six months.

Australia is now well underway in its recovery plan. With Victoria joining the rest of the country in getting on top of outbreaks, we are all moving firmly forward and looking to rebuild our economy and restore the jobs that were lost during the worst of the pandemic lockdowns. In my own state of Tasmania we have recently gone to another stage in our recovery phase. Last Friday the state reopened its borders, allowing quarantine-free access to residents from New South Wales, who join all other Australian jurisdictions, apart from Victoria, in now being able to come to Tasmania for a holiday or to visit friends and family. In the very near future Victorians will also be able to return to Tasmania, and I know I speak on behalf of many Tasmanians when I say just how much we are looking forward to welcoming our Victorian friends back home.

It was a fantastic show of support for Tasmania that among the first New South Wales visitors when borders reopened was our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, who visited the south of the state over the weekend. While he was in Hobart the Prime Minister caught up with Rob Pennicott, from Pennicott Wilderness Journeys—one of Tasmania's many wonderful tourism and hospitality businesses. Rob's feedback on JobKeeper to the PM was similar to that which I've heard from so many businesses across Tasmania: JobKeeper literally saved his business. And it saved many businesses like it—businesses which, through no fault of their own, found themselves with almost no income, because nobody was able to get out and about and spend money. Stories like this demonstrate the importance of the actions that the Morrison government has taken to protect businesses and jobs.

Over the last eight months, my focus in Tasmania has been on my Tasmania Back In Business campaign. Through this I have talked to many, many businesses around the state, and there has always been a level of cautious optimism that they can and will get back on track. They knew that they would need a bit of a hand to do so, and that is exactly what we have provided with this budget and exactly what we are providing with this bill today.

As part of my Tasmania Back in Business campaign I spoke to business and industry all across the state and sat down with chambers of commerce, farmers, growers, local government and everyday Tasmanians from all walks of life to understand their ideas to get businesses back up and running and local people back into work. There were a number of consistent themes which kept coming up in these discussions, and many of the businesses I spoke to highlighted the need to create more jobs for Tasmanians. They want young people to get an apprenticeship or traineeship and to get quality skills and training which set them up for a life of employment. They want local businesses to be supported by reducing tax and making it easier to employ locals. I am incredibly pleased that the Treasurer, when he delivered the 2020 budget early last month, delivered on all of these themes. As a government we have implemented a new extended asset write-off. We have extended JobKeeper for those businesses still doing it really tough. We are helping businesses to hire apprentices and trainees, and we have created the JobMaker hiring credit that this bill relates to.

The Economic Recovery Package (JobMaker Hiring Credit) Amendment Bill 2020 facilitates the JobMaker hiring credit scheme announced by the government as part of the 2020-21 budget. This bill will provide a significant boost to employment opportunities for young Australians who have been adversely affected by the crushing economic impact of coronavirus. The JobMaker hiring credit will support around 450,000 positions for young Australians around the nation, including those in my home state of Tasmania. We know that when economic times are tough young workers are often the first impacted and the hardest hit.

It's so important that we take swift and decisive action to get young people straight back into the workforce so they can continue to build a career and the work skills which will hold them in good stead for the next 30 or 40 years of their life. At a cost of $4 billion from 2020-21 to 2022-23, the JobMaker hiring credit is a significant investment in our young people by supporting new employment. Under the scheme, eligible employers will be able to claim $200 a week for each additional eligible employee they hire aged 16 to 29 years old and $100 a week for each additional eligible employee aged 30 to 35 years old.

Importantly, this initiative is not limited to a single sector and is open to businesses in the tourism, hospitality, building and construction, and other sectors to employ the people they need to grow their businesses. Eligible employees must have worked an average of at least 20 hours per week over the quarter for the employer to qualify for the payment. I want to encourage those businesses who are able and willing to take on new employees to check out the information regarding eligibility on the ATO website and help get a young person into work.

I am pleased to say that the Tasmanian businesses I have spoken to since the budget was delivered have all welcomed this initiative and are now looking at employing locals to fill additional positions. The 2020 budget is focused on job creation, rebuilding the economy and securing Australia's future, and the JobMaker hiring credit is just one of the initiatives developed to assist with our nation's economic recovery.

The Morrison government has also provided an additional $1.2 billion commitment to create 100,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships to further boost training and employment opportunities for young Australians. Our $1.3 billion modern manufacturing plan will target key national manufacturing priorities, like food and beverages, resources, technology, critical minerals processing, medical product recycling and clean energy. There's investment in major infrastructure projects, like the new Sorell and Midway Point causeways in southern Tasmania. By partnering with local governments to work on local roads and community infrastructure, we will stimulate the economy and create jobs.

This budget makes the tax system fairer for businesses that have done it particularly tough because of COVID and rewards them for any investments in new assets that they are able to make. That means more money back into those businesses, which enables them to employ more staff. Of course all of these measures are in addition to the huge commitments we have made through JobKeeper and by increasing the rate of JobSeeker during the COVID-19 crisis.

When the COVID-19 crisis first hit and businesses were shutting down and people were out of work, one of my first concerns was for young Australians and particularly young Tasmanians. As I said in my maiden speech in this place, the reason I wanted to become a senator for Tasmania was so I could fight for local job opportunities for young Tasmanians. I have spoken many times in this place about how fortunate I consider myself that I was able to grow up, get my education, start my career and continue my career in Tasmania before I was elected to this place. But most people my age have not been so fortunate. Many have felt they have had to go to the mainland for opportunities. When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, my initial thought was that we can't go backwards. We in Tasmania cannot go back to those dark old days of the eighties and early nineties when most Tasmanians felt they had to leave our beautiful island state for job opportunities. They should be able to have those opportunities at home. They should be able to build their lives in Tasmania.

I am very pleased today to see the Morrison coalition government making such a firm commitment to the future of not just young Tasmanians but young Australians with the bill that we are discussing here in the Senate. The Economic Recovery Package (JobMaker Hiring Credit) Amendment Bill 2020 is a continuation of the Morrison government's significant support to help Australia continue on our path to recovery following the COVID-19 economic crisis, and I commend the bill to the Senate.