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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 1 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 27 ..

MS MacDONALD (continuing):

The statistics that I mentioned earlier also tell us that nearly half of Canberra's working population does not have a post-secondary educational qualification; that is, they have undertaken no formal training since the day they last walked out of the high school gates. These rates were shown to be higher in the Tuggeranong suburbs of Richardson, Chisholm, Gilmore, Banks, Gordon and Conder, where the number of people without qualifications after high school was over 59 per cent of the population.

I find these statistics very alarming for the following reasons: people in the work force without a formal qualification are less likely to have their skills recognised and are likely to be lowly paid. With the population ageing, unless action is taken, we will have a steadily de-skilled population. Action must be taken. It is my belief that governments around this country need to do more than just pay lip service to the idea of lifelong learning. People at all stages of life should have access to, and encouragement to undertake, training to upgrade their skills. They should also receive recognition for the skills that they have learned on the job.

I believe, like many others on all sides of politics, that the great hope for all of our society can be realised through education and training. I also believe that a better educated and trained society can only be a better community overall. As a new member of the new Labor government, I hope to be able to assist in bringing about the changes that will give all of our society this hope and a better future.

While I am on the subject of society, there is another issue that I wish to discuss. My perception of Australian society over the last six years is that we have become insular and less caring about our fellow citizens. As an observer of history, and of my own family history, I find this very disturbing. Many people are unaware that I am Jewish. It is not a common thing to find a Jew with the surname of MacDonald, but here I am. In fact, my mother is Jewish and my dear dad converted to Judaism after he and mum married.

My maternal grandparents were German Jews. Opa had the foresight to see what was happening in Nazi Germany. He moved my grandmother and my infant mother out of Germany to England before the start of the war. My grandparents did make application to move to the United States but could not get a sponsor and were denied entry. However, they were lucky enough to be offered places in this country, and there has been many a time that I have been grateful that they came to Australia and did not go to the United States.

The experiences of my mother and grandparents were not unique. They were very lucky, in comparison to many others in similar circumstances, to be able to gain access to such a wonderful country. However, it is my belief that my grandparents made a huge contribution to many aspects of this country, not least through their contributions to culture and work.

For all the denials of the practitioners of wedge politics, the parallels with what has been taking place in this country and Nazi Germany are there to be seen by those who will look. They are subtle, but becoming less so. People in this country have been put under so much pressure by the erosion of core services and values that consequently they have sought to scapegoat those who are different. In 1933, the German people allowed Hitler to become their dictator. They gave up democracy and believed that the reason for their

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