Doorstop - Gold Coast

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Well it's great to be back on the Gold Coast, and I've just addressed a national workplace health and safety conference about the changes the Albanese Government has been making to strengthen our workplace health and safety laws and keep all Australian workers safe at work. Of course, today, we've also seen some new figures come out about unemployment rates and job creation in Australia, and these numbers that have come out today are more evidence that the Albanese Government's responsible economic policy is delivering higher jobs, higher wages, keeping unemployment low, all while bringing down inflation, and that's terrific news for Australians. It's further evidence that the economic difficulties that we've been experiencing are starting to turn a corner, which, again, is positive news for all Australians.

If I take you through some of the figures that we've seen with this latest announcement from the ABS today, what we've seen is a slight softening in job creation of record highs, and it's worth remembering that as of today, the Albanese Government has created more than 1 million new jobs in just one term in office. That is the most new jobs that have been created in any single parliamentary term in Australian history by any government of any political persuasion. And this also comes off the back of some new research that was reported today and released today by the McKell Institute, which has found that under the life of the Albanese Government, we've managed to deliver an average unemployment of 3.8%. Now, that is the lowest unemployment rate of any government for more than 50 years. You have to go back to the 1970s when people were wearing flares, dancing to disco and driving Holden Commodores, to have seen unemployment rates remain that low over the life of an entire government. And we're determined to keep working hard to keep as many Australians in work, earning more and keeping more of what they earn, should we be fortunate enough to be re-elected to a second term.
 
Just a bit more detail on the figures today, you will have seen that the unemployment rate has remained stable at 4.1%. I think that's a remarkable result when you consider the economic headwinds that Australia and the world continues to face, and as I say, that comes off the back of that new research today from the McKell Institute, showing that our Government, the Albanese Labor Government, has delivered the lowest average unemployment for more than 50 years. Today's figures show that youth unemployment remains steady at 9.1% underemployment, so the number of people who are out of work or want more work has actually fallen to 5.9%. And we still continue to see a higher participation rate, so, the number of people who are actively looking for work or are in work remains high at 66.8%

Now, we need to remember given we are now weeks away from an election, that all of this is at risk at the next federal election. We've worked very hard, as has the businesses of Australia and workers in Australia, to deliver these kind of figures. We've worked very hard to get inflation down while lifting wages and while lifting job creation and keeping unemployment low. And that's all at risk if we see a change of government to Peter Dutton and the Coalition. Peter Dutton has already made very clear that if he wins the next election, he will sack 36,000 public servants, people who work right across the country in Medicare, in Veterans affairs, in road building, road construction, all sorts of other areas of the Australian economy. Those jobs will go, and that will trigger broader unemployment across the rest of the economy. That's in addition to the pay cuts that Peter Dutton is promising if we go into next election, unwinding Labor's laws, which have delivered higher pay and higher conditions for Australian workers at a time when people need those pay rises. So, when we get to the next election in the next few weeks’ time, Australians will have a choice between an Albanese Labor Government that is delivering higher wages, more jobs, keeping unemployment low while reducing inflation, or Peter Dutton and the Coalition who want to sack public servants, take unemployment into the private sector and cut Australians wages. I think the choice is very clear at the next election, and we look forward to seeing what Australians have got to say about that, too. Happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister Watt, the only reason why the unemployment rate didn't tick up is because a lot of people dropped out of the workforce, largely to retire. Are you concerned that this could be a turning point in the labour market, where the jobless rate is only going to go up from here?
 
MURRAY WATT: There's no doubt that today's figures show a slight softening in the labour market, that was predicted in our MYEFO forecast. So, it's no surprise to see a slight softening. But as I say, this comes off the back of 10 consecutive months of job creation under the Albanese Government. So, over the last 10 months alone, we've seen 320,000 new jobs created. We have seen that figure go backwards slightly in the figures revealed for February. The ABS has said today that most of the jobs lost or people no longer working are older people who've chosen to retire. But this is consistent with the forecast that we released in MYEFO.
 
JOURNALIST: But are you concerned that’s going to get worse considering a lot of baby boomers are set to retire in the next few years?
 
MURRAY WATT: Well, of course, you know, baby boomers will choose to retire when their financial circumstances allow them to do so. But we are still seeing many new jobs created for younger people. I think I saw amongst the ABS results that we continue to see jobs growth among people under the age of 55, and that's a good thing. So, it's no surprise that as people get older, they choose to retire and enjoy the fruits of their labours over many years. But I think the broader point it is very satisfying to see the unemployment rate remain stable at 4.1% especially given the economic conditions we see around the world.
 
JOURNALIST: Are most jobs being created because of spending in the public sector?
 
MURRAY WATT: No, I've seen that commentary being made, including by our political opponents. The first thing I'd say about that is that we make no apologies as a Government for funding new jobs in sectors like aged care, disability care and early childhood education and care. These were sectors that were grossly underfunded under the Coalition. We saw it result in the case of aged care, in a Royal Commission whose final report was labelled “neglect.” We were seeing gross neglect of older Australians in aged care as a result of underfunding in the aged care system. We've turned that around through the funding we've provided by funding the aged care sector properly, along with disability care and early childhood. But I'd also make the point that the figures show that four out of five of the new jobs created under the Albanese Government have actually been in the private sector. So, it's good to see jobs growth in the public sector. It's really good to see jobs growth in the private sector. And of course, what we know is that Peter Dutton wants to take that away by slashing 36,000 jobs in the public sector, and he still hasn't told people whether that will come from Medicare, disability care, Veterans affairs or anything else.
 
JOURNALIST: You mentioned the upcoming Federal Budget. Are there plans to boost job creation?
  
MURRAY WATT: Australians can always trust a Labor government to focus on job creation. Creating jobs is in the DNA of the Labor Party, and we've seen from the figures today that those efforts are bearing fruit. We have been through as a country difficult economic times over the last couple of years, and I recognise the sacrifice that Australians have made over the last couple of years. That's why it's really encouraging to see Australia turning a corner with low unemployment, inflation coming down, interest rates coming down, but job creation still high and wages going up. That's the way Labor wants to see things continue if we're fortunate enough to be re-elected. Nothing else? Okay, thanks all.