Page 3341 - Week 11 - Thursday, 22 September 1994
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Ms Szuty said that, from the end of 1992 to the beginning of 1993, the youth unemployment rate in the ACT was around 39 per cent. Notwithstanding what we might think politically about what governments can or cannot do, I am sure that all members of the Assembly realise that that is totally unacceptable. My concern, though, is the fact that unemployment is still hovering around the 30 per cent mark, which is totally unacceptable. Whilst we always boast that, in a lot of respects, we have a better economy than anywhere else, we also know that in the national capital we now have one of the highest, if not the highest, rates of youth unemployment in the country. That is something that we really need to be looking at.
The greatest concern that I have is that, about two weeks ago, statistics came out, telling us that there has been a gradual increase in the number of full-time, long-term unemployed people, including young people. I think that, whilst in the ACT there was an increase of 15 per cent in the number of long-term unemployed, there has been a decrease in every other jurisdiction. That is a trend that ought to be ringing alarm bells in the ears of the Chief Minister. It tells me that, whatever has been done over the past two or three years, quite obviously it is not working. When there is an increase of 15 per cent in the number of long-term unemployed at the same time as you have fewer people in the work force and saturation point in education, alarm bells ought to be ringing, because that is a recipe for disaster. There is no doubt about that.
Madam Speaker, in summary, I welcome the Government's concern about teenage unemployment; but we have been welcoming the Government's concern for three years. We know that that concern is straight from the heart and that the Government has done a lot of things. But it has perpetuated and accelerated the rate of youth unemployment, especially, in this Territory. We also know that, by not spending its full quota of public works expenditure the Government has stopped increasing employment, because of the trigger effect that building industry increases would have. We also know that the Chief Minister literally had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to reduce the level of payroll tax, and she did it only after Mr Fahey had done it in New South Wales.
We have certain motions and a private members Bill on the notice paper. I am prevented from talking about them directly. They will be a test of whether the Government is fair dinkum about reducing the unemployment rate. I look forward to the Government translating its rhetoric into action and I look forward to seeing the unemployment figures that come out from time to time. The fact that the ACT's youth unemployment rate is the highest in the country, standing at around 30 per cent, is something that this Government should not be proud of. It should do something about it.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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