Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

In November 2024, for the first time, cost of living featured as the No. 1 issue in Mission Australia's annual Youth survey report. The percentage of young people worrying about the issue has more than doubled in two years, and it is by far their biggest concern. This is the time in the lives of these young Australians when they should be focusing on study, enjoying their first job or completing their apprenticeship. They should be having the time of their lives, without carrying all this adult stuff around with them. They should be being teenagers, being young people, but we haven't allowed them to do that. Instead, they are struggling to find housing, struggling to pay university and HECS fees and even struggling to feed themselves. This is taking an unacceptable toll on their mental health. We are all part of that. We are part of the toll that it's taking, because we are not making the right decisions.

These young people, particularly those in rural and regional areas like Tasmania, often can't afford, or even get, an appointment with a mental health professional. We had nearly 10 years under the coalition, and that didn't help, and in the last three years under Labor we haven't done much better. It's like you've got no idea how to handle the situation. It's absolutely shameful. What do we do with the younger population? How do we help them? Really, you in here have no idea. The Labor government hasn't brought down the cost of Arts fees. Even though you went on and on against this side, you've done nothing—silence, crickets.

The government could do something about this. Instead of pushing through your stinky salmon bill, how about raising Newstart? You could have done that if you'd bothered to means test when it came to energy cost support. How about raising youth allowance? Like I said, there's no means testing.

In Tasmania we have troubled kids locked up in a detention centre even though the Tasmanian government says it should be closed. They are planning to build another one on a barren piece of land between two motorways. How healthy is that? They put you in prison and put you near the highway. You can listen to the trucks all night and suck in the diesel. No worries! That's great. What a great move that is! I reckon the Tasmanian government's got something more coming on that, and I'm coming for them on it.

The second main concern young Australians have is about the environment and climate change. If we just showed a little imagination we could address this as well. We could look at reducing HECS fees in return for a bit of service to country. How about that? We could talk to unis, TAFEs and schools about integrating volunteering. We could help prepare and arm our young Australians with the resilience they need to face the challenges of the future. I've got a feeling they're going to need everything that they can get.