The Coalition Government Employment Policy

Presented by:

Hon. Tony Abbott
Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations

The Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Abbott delivered a public lecture on the Government's employment policy at Callaghan last month as part of the University's Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) Public Policy Lecture series.

The Minister, who has policy responsibilities for all issues relating to employment and workplace relations, addressed an audience of academics, students and members of the general public and defended his government's record on unemployment.

"Unemployment is a social cancer that feeds so many other unfortunate things in our society," Mr Abbott said. "I don't believe that the current levels of unemployment are acceptable and I don't believe that any government can rest on its laurels with unemployment rates of 6.5 percent. In the end, our objective has to be full employment."

Mr Abbott said the Howard Government has three strategies to bring unemployment down - the creation of a more buoyant economy in order to produce more jobs; support for a better educated and trained workforce; and a better designed welfare system.

"When we cut government spending in 1996, we did it because we thought spending restraint would bring interest rates down and that lower interest rates would stimulate the economy and we would have higher employment. If you look at the economic policies the government has put in place since 1996, you'd have to say we're doing something right. Any way you look at it, things are getting better. There are one million new jobs, higher rates of pay and fewer strikes."

CofFEE Director, Professor Bill Mitchell, is a vocal critic of the Coalition's employment record. Professor Mitchell argues that present government policy, with its obsession with budget surpluses, prevents the economy from generating enough jobs and that full employment requires increased public sector job creation. He was heartened that Minister Abbott referred to full employment as the goal of every democratic politician, but remains concerned that the government's policies do not actually facilitate this.

"There is significant wastage in the Australian labour market," Bill said. "Even if we consider just the official unemployment rate, it is a huge waste of resources. When we include the hours lost due to unemployment, hidden unemployment and underemployment, the percentage of willing labour resources currently wasted is 11.9 percent."

Mr Abbott held discussions with the team from CofFEE during his visit. He expressed interest in the idea advocated by CofFEE that labour market policy would be more effective if the Work for the Dole scheme was replaced by a publicly funded job guarantee in areas of community development. The Centre was pleased to have the opportunity of discussing employment policy with the Minister and intends to pursue further dialogue along these lines with the Government. The audience present at the lecture also enjoyed an animated interchange with the Minister.

Left to Right: CofFEE Director Bill Mitchell, Tony Abbott, University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor Roger Holmes.

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