Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator O'Sullivan, for a comprehensive analysis of what is an extraordinarily important piece of legislation. I think none of us would ever have thought we would be in a position where we would be talking so many times in this place about unprecedented measures to support our country through a once-in-a-century pandemic. However, there are a number of really important elements in the contribution that Senator O'Sullivan just made that I would like to expand on a little bit.

First of all, we have seen disproportionate impacts depending on where you are and what types of jobs are on offer, the types of skills that are available and the geographically different demographics. So, whilst we went into the pandemic with probably a bit of a one-size-fits-all response, with the coronavirus supplement, as we're starting to come out of the pandemic we're actually seeing that different regions, different industries and different groups of people are coming out of it at different rates. Some of it is good news. It's great to see that 80 per cent of the jobs that were lost during the pandemic have now come back.

In relation to the work incentives that Senator O'Sullivan was talking about, we have certainly seen that rural and regional communities have been much harder hit by an inability to access a labour force than perhaps some of our metropolitan areas have been. Coming from a rural and regional area myself, Senator O'Sullivan, I've certainly seen the great and grave concern amongst our rural and regional employers about their ability to get a workforce for entry-level jobs, the lower paid jobs, but also, very specifically, in agriculture, particularly harvest jobs, and in hospitality.

So we have a situation where there are parts of the country that are screaming out for a workforce, and we put in place a number of incentives through the budget so that people maybe look at the incentive and think, 'Yes, I'll give that a go; that's worthwhile.' There is the $6,000 relocation allowance that was offered to people who were prepared to move to specific regional areas where harvest labour was required. For young people trying to get independent status, there is the incentive of the opportunity for an accelerated work test measure by going out to the country and working in the agricultural sector. They can work on the harvest and more quickly be eligible for independent status so that they are able to, for instance, put themselves through university with Abstudy. So we tried to do that, but, disappointingly, I'm afraid we've had quite a slow take-up of this. We'd certainly encourage anybody who is listening to this debate to take that up. If you find yourself unemployed and you're in an area where employment opportunities are more restricted, there are opportunities if you're prepared to move and there are incentives and supports in place to help you if you would like to move. Certainly, the farmers of Australia would love to see more people come out there and put up their hands to do the harvest. Yes, it is hard work and, yes, it can be pretty hot out there in the middle of summer, but I know from having been brought up on a farm and picked and cut apricots every summer it actually is quite fun, and people in the country are super-duper-friendly too. So I would encourage people to maybe have a think about it. It may not be the job that is your life's ambition. It may not be a job that is as engaging or as fulfilling as one you may have lost. But, if you re-engage with the workforce, we know that, if you report any hours of work, you are more than twice as likely to come off payments in the short term than those people who are on payments who don't report any earnings.

That is probably the most significant driving factor behind the income-free area that Senator O'Sullivan referred to in his contribution. Previously, the income-free area was at $106 per fortnight. We did see quite a number of people reporting earnings, but the increase to $300 per fortnight appears to have had quite a significant impact on the number of people doing so. Maybe people looked at that $300 and thought: 'It's a couple of shifts a week or a fortnight. If I go and do that I won't lose one cent of my payment for the first $300 I earn.' For every dollar you earn over the $300 until you reach the cut-out threshold—the cut-off threshold equates to an income of $1,257 per fortnight received by the individual, because it only tapers off at 60c in the dollar.

We were, and we remain, really keen, as we transition out of providing supports to people to help them cope with the impact of the intensity of the shutdowns when the pandemic first hit, as we're walking the walk with Australians through this pandemic and through this recovery out to the other side, on transitioning so that we maintain a balance between the support we referred to and the incentive for people to get out and re-engage with the workforce, but at the same time we have a package of measures that incentivises the creation of jobs. Only this week the ATO opened registrations for people interested in availing themselves of the opportunity presented by the JobMaker hiring credit scheme. Also, very significant investment has been put into the JobTrainer program so that we can make sure people who may not be able to go back to the industries or the businesses they were previously working in have got the kinds of skills that are going to be relevant and in demand as we go forward. We know our economy is changing. It was changing before we went into the pandemic, but the pandemic certainly accelerated the change in the market balance between the types of jobs that are in demand.

Senator O'Sullivan, in response to your question: in summary, it is about trying to create incentives so that people will look up and think that it's worth having a go; keeping in place a level of elevated support, recognising that we've still got a way to go with the recovery; and at the same time remaining agile so that, should anything change—it can overnight, as we well know—we still remain fleet-footed so that we can change in response to any situation that may be brought upon us because of the extraordinary volatility and uncertainty of this coronavirus pandemic and the impact it's had on our country.