Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment Participation and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery, Senator Arbib. Can the minister update the Senate on the impacts of the global recession on the regional areas of Australia? Can the minister outline how unemployment is affecting different regions? Can the minister further explain any measures that the government has taken to address unemployment in regions hardest hit by the global recession?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the good senator from Tasmania for the question. As I told the Senate yesterday, there are some great regional variations in both unemployment and the effect that unemployment is having on our community. The coalition have outlined their plan to roll back the stimulus. Their idea is that there is no need for infrastructure to go into regions, but we have seen the response by the Secretary of the Treasury, Ken Henry, that over 100,000 Australians would lose their jobs—

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on both sides! Resume your seat, Senator Arbib. When there is order, we will proceed.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know from the Treasury secretary that the jobs of 100,000 Australians would be in jeopardy if we rolled back the stimulus. I have been travelling with my Parliamentary Secretary for Employment, Jason Clare, around the country, and unemployment is affecting the regions in a major way. Look at south-west Sydney—

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What have you done for Cairns?

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I am entitled to hear Senator Arbib’s answer. Senator Arbib, you may continue.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Look at south-west Sydney where unemployment is up over 8.6 per cent and where teenage unemployment is now around 47 per cent. This is why the government supports the stimulus package and this is why we will continue to roll it out across the country. I note that Senator Macdonald has made a number of interjections concerning Cairns. That is something that I do want to talk about. Cairns is a community that has been hardest hit by the global recession, and what does Senator Macdonald want to do about Cairns? He wants to rip infrastructure projects away from Cairns, putting small businesses and tradesmen out of business. Plumbers and electricians in Cairns would be put out of business. This is the senator who comes from North Queensland, and that is his plan for Queensland: strip away stimulus, strip away funds and strip away projects. That is the Liberal Party’s response to unemployment. That is why they should be ashamed—(Time expired)

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on both sides! I need silence so that I can hear the question.

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Minister for Employment Participation for that information. My first supplementary question is: could the minister outline to the Senate any further efforts that the government will make in priority employment areas to address unemployment issues? Where do these communities go from here to address unemployment? How will the government continue to monitor and address rising unemployment in these critical regions? Can the minister outline the decision to appoint local employment coordinators to the priority employment areas? What is the role of the local employment coordinators and what type of work—

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on both sides! There needs to be order so that the question can be heard.

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will just repeat that last question—

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on both sides! Continue, Senator Bilyk.

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline the decision to appoint local employment coordinators to the priority employment areas? What is the role of the local employment coordinators and what type of work will they be doing in their communities?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I confirm to the Senate again that the Jobs Fund is providing jobs throughout Australia—6,100 jobs are being provided through the Jobs Fund. But the Jobs Fund has also been tailored to include the Apprentice Kickstart—a tripling of the commencement bonus to just under $5,000—and it is going to have an effect. As I said yesterday, the shadow minister for employment participation said that it is training for training’s sake. But these are apprentices. I have a letter from Mr Jim Turnour—

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ian Macdonald interjecting—

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a letter from Skill360, Senator Macdonald, which is an organisation that provides apprenticeships and training in Cairns. What do they say concerning this? They say:

The local effects of the global financial crisis are having a detrimental effect on the creation of job opportunities for apprentices, and in this context the Australian government’s Apprentice Kickstart is welcome.

This is what the government is doing in Cairns. What is the Liberal Party doing for Cairns? It is stripping away projects.

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. How will the Apprentice Kickstart initiative help address rising unemployment, particularly in the regions? Can the minister outline the reaction of people or organisations in regional areas, particularly those with issues around unemployment and youth unemployment, to the new Apprentice Kickstart initiative? Could the minister also outline ways that areas of high unemployment can participate in this important initiative?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In relation to Apprentice Kickstart, as I was saying, I have correspondence from Skill360 and they are actually going to run a marketing campaign to recruit apprentices for local industry and local business on the back of Apprentice Kickstart. This is the government working cooperatively with Cairns employers and training organisations to fight rising unemployment, unlike what the coalition is doing.

I just want to go through a couple of the projects that Senator Macdonald would like to see knocked off and not started in Cairns: Building the Education Revolution, 304 projects in Leichhardt; and Primary Schools for the 21st Century, 103 projects. These would be gone under Senator Macdonald. Seven science and language centres—

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ian Macdonald interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald, constant interjection is disorderly, and you know it. Please continue, Senator Arbib; you have 15 seconds remaining.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Seven science and language centres would be gone under Senator Macdonald and the Liberal Party. This is the hypocrisy of the Liberal Party. They say we should be supporting jobs, but on the ground they want to strip away the projects that lead to jobs and support jobs. This is the Liberal Party: no plan for jobs. (Time expired)

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.