Page 647 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 1991
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I flatly reject any implication that the Alliance Government has been dragging its feet in this area. We have been working in close cooperation on a national basis to find ways of assisting young people through unemployment to opportunities in employment, education and training. Neither have we been ignoring the warning signs in the economy. The recent increases in youth unemployment were anticipated by the Alliance Government. I stress, "anticipated". In our budget deliberations last year, we increased funding across the board in these areas by 20 per cent; that puts the lie to suggestions that our Government was not diligent. What was not anticipated was the way in which the international, national and local economies would interact to produce the degree of unemployment that we are witnessing. Furthermore, no government in this nation predicted our current situation during 1990. No party has the luxury of claiming the high moral ground on this issue. I repeat, Mr Speaker, that no party has the luxury of claiming the high moral ground on this issue; nor do any of us have complete freedom of action to address youth unemployment.
Mr Berry: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I think we have gone over time.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you for your observation, Mr Berry. We have not gone over time. Please proceed, Mr Collaery.
MR COLLAERY: For some years it has been obvious that what is required is cooperation between all levels of government in Australia, and this is the strategy which the Alliance Government has followed. Our national involvement has reflected this, as has our development of local and regional policy. We have acted on the identified need for coordinated policies in education, training, employment and economic planning, and we have pursued their development.
In education and training, we have followed the recommendations of the Chief Minister's Advisory Council on Employment, and an ACT entry level training policy is being developed. In employment, there is a national commitment and an ACT commitment to award restructuring, which will inevitably change junior wages to training wages. Skills and competencies, not birthdays, will become the basis for the payment of wages. In economic planning, the ACT Government continues to play a major role in the formulation of a south-east region economic development plan. The regional flavour of the plan acknowledges that we cannot think of industrial development and job creation in an isolated fashion. They are issues that transcend State and Territory boundaries.
Mr Speaker, these are the long-term measures which will assist to stabilise the youth labour market. Let no-one be under any illusion that there are any quick fixes or easy solutions in this area. What is required is unremitting hard work and a commitment to goals to take us well into the next century.
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