Get Australia working
By Dr John Tomlinson
Federally, Labor came to power at the height of the 1982-83 recession. During the period it has been in office, unemployment has never dropped below 6% and has averaged 9%. This has been a disaster for low-income earners and is now threatening the complacency of the middle class.
Labor boasted that it created 1.4 million jobs in its first six years in office. But these new jobs only lifted 40,000 families out of poverty. They did little for the long-term unemployed. Many of the jobs were part time and low paid and simply maintained those lucky enough to get work at incomes near the poverty line.
We are now in the depths of the worst unemployment crisis in 60 years, and the federal ALP government is hoping no-one will notice.
Australians should call on the federal government to create jobs for the 1 million workless. We have 10.5% of the work force actively seeking work and another 4-5% have become discouraged job-seekers.
Federal Labor has been content to limit the number of unemployed walking the streets by pushing them into "Mickey Mouse" short-term training schemes for jobs that don't exist.
Labor has abused the young unemployed. It refuses to pay 16-18 year olds more than 40% of the poverty line. In the next two weeks it will legislate to prevent 16-21 year old unemployed people from receiving extra training allowances, which are designed to meet the extra costs of training. All unemployed remember the Newstart promises.
The government needs to:
- expand the educational opportunities for the unemployed in courses in which their qualifications will be recognised;
- create jobs which are socially productive;
- abolish the excessive targeting and age-related payment system of the Department of Social Security.
Labor should honour its platform and introduce a guaranteed minimum income. A 16-year-old asset poor person is currently given 40% of the income of a 21-year-old unemployed person — and both are paid less than aged and disability
pensioners. This discrimination on the basis of age is intolerable.
Analysts and parliamentarians now admit that at no time in the next five years will unemployment drop below 5%. There is no justification to continue to behave towards the unemployed as if they have to be coerced into taking jobs. There are between 40 and 60 unemployed people for every vacancy. We need to implement policies which treat unemployed people with dignity.
[John Tomlinson is director of the ACT Council of Social Services.]