Press Conference, Adelaide
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Good afternoon. Despite the uncertainty in the global economy, the data today shows the continuing resilience of the Australian labour market. Today's labour force figures do show an uptick of the unemployment rate from 4.1 to 4.3 per cent. This is broadly in line with Treasury's expectations that were outlined in the March Budget. Now, while this does show a softening of the labour market, it also is worth noting that the participation rate has also increased from 67 per cent to 67.1 per cent. Last month, we also continued to see jobs growth, with an extra 2000 jobs being added to the Australian economy. If we take a 12-month perspective, then we will see that 280,000 jobs have been added across the last 12 months. This is a remarkable outcome considering the significant global uncertainty that we see right around the world. Now, it's important to note the resilience of our labour that we see a higher percentage of people in jobs than before COVID, and a record number of people in jobs in the Australian labour market. Our Government is absolutely focused on keeping unemployment low, on bringing down inflation and, of course, getting wages moving. We want to see people earning more and keeping more of what they earn. And now I’ll go questions.
JOURNALIST: Were you surprised by today's uptick in the unemployment rate?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, of course, what we have been focused on is making sure that we are navigating global uncertainty. There is significant global uncertainty across the world. And, of course, that has an impact here in Australia. But I would say that the uptick in unemployment is broadly in line with Treasury’s forecasts that were outlined in March.
JOURNALIST: Do you think it's a sign that perhaps the Reserve Bank made a mistake when it kept rates on hold?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: The Reserve Bank is independent and they've outlined their reasons for keeping rates on hold. It was obviously a great disappointment to many Australians, that decision. But the Reserve Bank will meet again and will consider not only the inflation data, but also this employment data as well.
JOURNALIST: Do they have any part to be blamed in any of this, though, that people aren't able to employ more people?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, look, we need to focus on the fact that we have seen an extra 2000 jobs added to the Australian economy in the month of June. Of course, the Reserve Bank is independent and will factor this data along with the - as they've identified the quarterly inflation data that will also come out.
JOURNALIST: Just on youth unemployment, it's trending upwards again after a brief period of stabilisation. It's still more than twice the overall unemployment rate. So why doesn't the Government have any specific youth unemployment policies to reverse that trend?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, I would say we have a lot of youth unemployment policies. Firstly, I would say that our focus on ensuring that young people have access to the skills and training that they need to get a job is on display. Yesterday, I was talking about the over 500,000 fee-free TAFE places that our government has committed to and from 1 July also marks the beginning of paid prac placements to support those studying teaching, social work and nursing. But in addition to this, through my department we run a range of different programs, including the Transition to Work program that is specifically focused on young people. So, of course we want to see more young people take up training and skills so that they can get good jobs. We'll continue to work on that.
JOURNALIST: Just on the Prime Minister being in China, the Coalition have obviously been critical of how long he's spending over there. Do these figures released today justify the need to be over there for the length he has been?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, I haven't seen the Coalition's comments, but I would say that they have really no leg to stand on. When they were in Government, they trashed our international relationships and did not work on how we actually build diplomacy across the world. Of course, the Prime Minister has been leading an important delegation and talking about business opportunities. We've worked very hard to stabilise our relationship with China, make sure that it's predictable and ensure that we have a good working relationship where we agree where we can, disagree where we must, but importantly work in the national interest. And so, we will continue to work right across the globe to improve many of the relationships that the previous Coalition trashed. So that includes in the Pacific, of course, stabilising our relationship with China, getting that trade flowing again, which the Minister for Trade has done, taking away some of the trade barriers that existed for many of our agricultural products for example, have been important steps in the right direction. We'll continue to work across it with our international partners to stabilise particularly that relationship with China, but also improve our relationships around the globe.
JOURNALIST: Does the increasing rate of unemployment suggest, though, that there's domestic issues here that need to be tackled before those overseas?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: I would say that our Australian economy is not immune to what's happening overseas. We are a trading nation, and the jobs here in Australia rely on being able to sell our goods across the world. Of course, we have seen significant uncertainty across the global economy, and we've also seen hostilities break out in the Middle East. These all have an impact on our economy here in Australia, and despite the uncertainty around the globe and the global economy, Australia's labour market and Australia's economy continues to be incredibly resilient. And that is very important. We will always be focused as a Government on how we create more jobs. Over a million jobs have been created as a result since our government came and was elected in 2022. Our focus is on creating more jobs, better paid, secure jobs, and that's what we will continue to get on and do.