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

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. As I was saying, back in those dark days of Labor-Green government in Tasmania poor economic management saw business confidence slump, further weakening employment rates. Investment was at an all-time low. The jobs situation under Labor and the Greens in Tasmania became so bad that people were leaving our state in droves to seek employment on the mainland. They knew there was no hope to look locally for employment, so they packed their bags, booked a one-way ticket on the Spirit of Tasmania and left. We lost so many skilled Tasmanians and so many young people during this period. That is what I spoke about in my maiden speech as being one of my drivers in seeking election to this place, to see another generation of Tasmanians would not have to leave our island for job opportunities, that they would have those opportunities locally and enjoy everything that is just so good about Tasmania's way of life. It baffles me that Labor come into this place and try to lecture us about jobs and lecture us about our record of creating jobs in Australia and in Tasmania when they don't have a foot to stand on.

This government has a keen focus on creating jobs for Australians. We don't just talk the talk; we walk the walk. Since the coalition was elected into government in 2013, up until the global pandemic that we've seen over the last 12 months, in excess of 1.5 million jobs had been created around the country. This speaks volumes to the initiatives and conditions that we as a government put in place to stimulate economic growth, create jobs and make Australia more prosperous. During the pandemic, the Morrison coalition government stepped in to provide unprecedented levels of support for businesses and the people they employ to protect them from the dire economic consequences of the pandemic. We understood the immense challenge facing the country and we acted to mitigate the effects on jobs, businesses and the people of Australia.

I've said many times in the last 12 months and I will say again today: when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I was incredibly worried, particularly for my own state of Tasmania, that we would go back to those dark days where more people were leaving our island than coming to it. I worried about the economic challenges we would be facing. I worried about how we would deal with them and what Australia would look like coming out the other end. But, because of the policies of this government, we are coming out the other end, and Australia, I think, economically, is on the right track for recovery. What were those policies? An additional $1.2 billion was allocated in the budget to create 100,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships. The JobMaker hiring credit is encouraging businesses to hire younger Australians, recognising that young jobseekers often suffer the long-term impacts of economic downturn. And investment in road and other infrastructure projects is creating more jobs around the country and providing better public amenities for Australians.

But our quest to continue to create more jobs for Australians doesn't stop there with those fantastic policies, because we as a government recognised when the COVID-19 pandemic hit that the way the Australian workforce operates, the way that employees engage with their employers, was going to be different on the other side of this economic downturn and that there would need to be greater flexibility so that we were able to rebuild our workforce following the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is what our IR reform package will facilitate.

These reforms address known problems with our industrial relations system and the Fair Work Act. They will not only support wages growth and help regrow the jobs lost to the pandemic but also tackle broader issues like underemployment, job security, underpayment of wages, and the failure of Labor's enterprise bargaining system to drive wage and productivity growth.

This package of reforms will give businesses the confidence to get back to growing and creating jobs, as well as the tools to help employers and employees to work together in a post-COVID-19 Australia. As I said, we recognised early on that this would be an issue as we came out of the economic downturn, and that's why we have acted, with these reforms, to ensure that businesses and their workers are able to engage and negotiate as our workforce gets back to work following the economic downturn. These vital reforms to employment law build on the various economic supports provided by the government during the pandemic, some of which I listed earlier in my contribution. They are driven by one simple goal: breaking down barriers to job growth so we can get Australians back to work.

The reforms were developed after extensive consultation with employer and employee groups, who sat down with the government for many, many hours to find innovative solutions to support struggling businesses as well as protect and enhance the rights of workers. These reforms are important for all Australians as they aspire to grow their careers and seek out the opportunities that will allow them to contribute economically, whether it's buying their first home, supporting their family or planning for their retirement. We are committed to creating jobs and strengthening the economy so that more Australians can do this. This has been a strength of successive federal coalition and state Liberal governments, because we understand the importance of having a job, the sense of accomplishment that comes with that, the dignity that comes with that and the ability to provide for yourself and your family. This is why jobs have been a key focus of this government, especially during and following the high point of the pandemic.

As I said earlier, I know only too well what can happen to jobs when they are left to the devices of Labor and the Greens. What happened in Tasmania under the previous Labor-Green government was devastating for our state, to the point where, as I said, Tasmanians were leaving in droves. So many Tasmanians I know—my friends, my family—all left our island state for work opportunities on the mainland because they couldn't find those opportunities at home. Some have since returned to the island, and many have not. That is a real loss for our state, which needs skilled young Tasmanians to drive our state forward. But that is not going to happen at the hands of Labor and the Greens.