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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (9 March) . . Page.. 743 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Instead of spending all our time and effort and energy in trying to target and blame the unemployed, and saying that it is up to them to work hard and to find a job, why do we not try to work out why our society, and the way our society operates, does not provide adequate jobs, and work out ways of fixing that problem? The great irony, Mr Speaker, is that whilst our society does not provide enough jobs for people, and while there are four people applying for every one job, there is still an enormous amount of work which is not done. I do not see anything from the other side of the chamber that addresses that fundamental contradiction.

There is so much work to be done in our society, there are so many levels of need which are unmet in our society, so much positive, useful, creative and effective work that can be done and that needs to be done in our society, and yet, Mr Speaker, the jobs are not there for that work to be done. That is the biggest contradiction in the question of unemployment. It is not about young people trying to find work and having to be made to get work; it is about resolving the contradiction that there is so much work to be done in our society and not enough jobs to fill those needs. Work in social services, work in caring for people, work in fixing our environment, is all useful work. That is work that needs to be done, but I do not see those people on that side of the house addressing that fundamental contradiction. Why do they not spend more of their time trying to deal with that contradiction rather than targeting unemployed people and saying that they have to do more work to find a job when the jobs simply are not there.

Question put:

The Assembly voted -

AYES, 8   	NOES, 9

Mr Berry  	Ms Carnell
Mr Corbell  	Mr Cornwell
Mr Hargreaves  	Mr Hird
Mr Osborne   	Mr Humphries
Mr Quinlan  	Mr Kaine
Mr Stanhope  	Mr Moore
Ms Tucker  	Mr Rugendyke
Mr Wood  	Mr Smyth
 		Mr Stefaniak

Motion agreed to.

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