SUBJECTS: ABS Labour Force Figures.
BRENDAN O’CONNOR, SHADOW MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Thanks very much for coming today. I just want to respond to the ABS figures on employment and unemployment today. Clearly there are concerns with the unemployment rate. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has increased to 5.7 per cent. And whilst there is some respite and some improvement to full time job numbers it is of concern to Labor that we see the unemployment rate rise and we see so many Australians not being able to find any work or enough work.
Now, given this will be my last media conference in response to ABS figures this year I’d like to just give you a snapshot of what’s happened over the last 12 months in relation to the ABS data.
What’s clear is that there’s real problems and challenges for the country and the Government hasn’t found any solutions to them. For example, there are 46,000 fewer fulltime workers today than was the case a year ago. Heading into Christmas people cannot find the full time work they need to make ends meet.
The participation rate has fallen by half a per cent in 12 months. Again, a very serious indicator which does either show the economy going well or not so well. And the fact that there’s been such a fall over 12 months is of concern.
Alarmingly we’ve seen the youth unemployment rate go up by 1 per cent in the last 12 months to 13.6 per cent. That’s an extraordinary rate of unemployment amongst young people. We’ve got an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent and yet young people are at 13.6 per cent. Now this is not good enough from the Government. We need to see them do a lot better.
When you have an underemployment rate or number in excess of 1 million Australians who cannot find enough work, you match that to the 725,000 unemployed Australians, there are too many people without work or without enough work and that's why you are seeing people obviously concerned about their livelihood, about their families, about their communities.
The Government needs to do a lot more. But if you look at the national accounts figures that were out just recently, a contraction of the economy by half a per cent, you add to that these figures, the underlying underemployment rate, the contraction in participation rate and, indeed, the fall in full-time jobs, no wonder the Australian people do not believe Malcolm Turnbull when he talks about jobs and growth. Because these figures, the national accounts figures and the ABS data on unemployment over the last 12 months shows things are not going too well.
Finally I want to add one thing in relation to a particular State. I don't tend to go to State figures but it would be remiss of me not to mention the unemployment rate in WA. The unemployment rate in WA has hit 6.9 per cent. It is the second highest unemployment rate in the country. It has not been this high for 13 years.
This is the highest unemployment rate in WA for 13 years. The combination of the failure of the Abbott-Turnbull Government and the Barnett Government has led to extraordinary acceleration of unemployment in that State. They have no plan to deal with the transition in the economy as a result of the changes and the phasing out of the construction transition, if you like, in the mining sector.
Again, a combination of failure by the State and Federal governments has left WA with the worst figures we have seen since 2003. Very happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: What do you think is behind the unexpected jump? The economists predicted it would remain steady, what do you think is behind this jump, even though it’s not a huge jump, for the month of November?
O’CONNOR: I look at it across the trend. We do welcome any increase in numbers. We have seen an increase in the full-time numbers. But I have to look at it over time, only two months ago there was a 53,000 fall in full-time jobs numbers. I think it is better when you are looking at the unemployment rate or looking at the numbers of jobs being created or being lost, it is important to take a step back and look at a 12-month period so you get the trends more accurately.
Look, Labor will always welcome any job being created. If it is the case that many full-time jobs were created, that's a good thing. But, over the course of the 12 months, we have seen a very significant decline in full-time work.
If you look at the underemployment rate, and the underemployment number, clearly there are real problems for people not being able to find sufficient work. So in areas of the labour market there are jobs going where there are full time workers more generally and of course there’s been more part-time and casual work.
Unfortunately while that’s an important form of employment, that doesn't always pay the bills and doesn’t always ensure you can pay the mortgage, pay the rent, put food on the table, buy Christmas presents for Christmas. We are concerned people are not able to find enough work. That's coming up through the figures notwithstanding the positive signs at least this month for the employment for some Australians and that's a good thing.
JOURNALIST: What would the Opposition's plan be to turn around that trend towards casual and part-time employment rather than full time employment?
O’CONNOR: Certainly we would not accept a labour market that is an easy-to-hire/easy-to-fire situation. The fundamental difference between the major parties is one party wants to see the liberalisation of industrial relations laws. They do not attend to the exploitation that occurs in the labour market. They ignore the terrible scandals that have occurred. If you look at the 7-Eleven scandal up to $100 million has not been paid to workers and the Government has not lifted a finger.
It set up a taskforce which has no tasks and no force. The fact is it has not enacted any legislation. It is obsessed with ideological matters. It has been focused on attacking unions instead of creating jobs. It is focused on amending the Racial Discrimination Act instead of looking at how you create employment and, not just employment but protecting the interests of workers in workplaces.
We have seen too many examples recently where employers are treating workers very badly and never have I seen Malcolm Turnbull or the Minister for Employment lift a finger to help workers in this country. That is not in their DNA.
What Labor will do and we’ve already committed to doing is we would regulate labour hire companies, increase penalties for intentional underpayments, stamp out sham contracting that occurs. We would do a combination of things to make sure that the good employers who do the right thing are not suffering at the hands of bad employers who want to underpay their work force. It is not fair to the workers. It is not fair to the good employers. It is not fair for the society.
This society is built on fairness. We want to see economic growth but we want to see people included in the dividends of that growth. We want to see all people being able to be beneficiaries of a growing Australia. Now, what we are seeing at the moment is very significant exploitation in the labour market.
We are seeing the participation rate falling. We are seeing the contraction in the economy. We are seeing a government not leading, not instilling confidence with business, not attending to exploitation, not dealing with these issues sufficiently. They are divided, they are distracted, they are fighting amongst themselves and this is, I think, an indicator as to why we are having problems. We have a government not focused on the main issues confronting Australians today.
JOURNALIST: Surely it is a good thing though that just over 39,000 full-time jobs were created in the past month?
O’CONNOR: Any job being created is a good thing. I always start by welcoming that as I did at the beginning of this conference but I need to make very clear, when you are looking at ABS data with all of its vagaries and its imperfections, the best way to get a picture on the accuracy of such data is to look over the course of time.
Given this is my last press conference on ABS data this year, I wanted to make clear, we have seen 46,000 fewer full-time jobs since this time last year. Participation rate has fallen by half a per cent and we have seen youth unemployment rise by 1 per cent. They are not good indicators. And that's a more accurate picture of the labour market today than just looking at monthly figures.
JOURNALIST: Specifically in relation to the November figures, what do you think is behind the unexpected rise?
O’CONNOR: Well look, I guess that's why I'm somewhat sceptical. It wasn't just me that's sceptical. I think commentators have questioned the numbers. I guess we would like to look more deeply at why that may have happened. We hope it has happened. We hope that data does reflect what's happening in the real economy. But I know if you are trying to get an accurate picture, it’s better to stand back and look over the course of times.
I come out every month and I qualify my comments whatever happens with the figures by saying this is the data. And I think the ABS do a good job in difficult circumstances, not always resourced sufficiently. But if you look at the ABS data over the 12 months you can see it is quite a bleak picture in many respects but any time there is some sunshine, I'm always happy to embrace and acknowledge it. I've done that today.
JOURNALIST: Brendan, just a quick one on another topic, on the merger between the CFMEU and the Maritime Union, do you think it is time for unions to be getting bigger and smarter now that the Government is starting to roll out its ABCC and Registered Organisations next year?
O’CONNOR: Entirely up to democratically elected registered organisations what they do. If they choose to stay as an entity or they choose to look to merge, I think that's really up to them. We're a democratic society. We should not impede the rights of workers to organise and be parts of unions. That's their fundamental human right. And for those organisations that are democratically structured, it is for the members of that organisation to make that decision. Their destiny is in their hands as it should be.
JOURNALIST: Is that the future though, in your eyes, of the union movement, to be able to come together and be a stronger and bigger force?
O’CONNOR: Doesn't have to be the case. You can have these separate organisations in any field working together effectively. I've seen unions that have been not as effective even through amalgamation because they haven’t always worked cohesively. I've seen three separate unions work together. It is really up to the unions to make those decisions as it is up to the employer bodies and other bodies in society and political parties.
And really, the idea that the Government should intervene and try and attack the rights of workers to democratically decide on the future of their union says everything about the Government. They are obsessed with attacking unions. They'd like to see them gone because the fundamental plan of the Liberal Party is to create a low-wage, easy-to-hire, easy-to-fire society. That’s their aim, that’s in their DNA. That's what every one of them likes. They want to see the end of penalty rates, they want to see the end of the weekend. That's why they attack unions so vehemently.
JOURNALIST: As a strong Labor man, what sort of taste did Eddie Obeid's crimes leave in your mouth? What was your reaction to his sentencing today?
O’CONNOR: The courts have made a decision. He was a crook and he’s going to jail. No one is above the law. No one should be above the law. If you break the law, there should be consequences. In his case, clearly there were.
JOURNALIST: Just back on the ABS figures, in relation to WA and South Australia their figures, there was a big jump in the jobless rate what do you think is behind that in those two states and what would Labor’s plan be to turn that around?
O’CONNOR: I think the State Government, firstly, failed to anticipate the very fast-changing arrangements with the mining sector, even though it was there for all to see. I think they failed to recast their economy knowing the construction phase of mining was coming to a close or slowing. And I don’t think they diversified their economy sufficiently. They didn't dedicate investment in areas that are needed in so far as skills in the emerging area of the labour market. So there’s is a combination of reasons.
So far as the Federal Government's contribution to those terrible figures, they just have not instilled any confidence in the business community. I talk to businesses throughout this country and they are at a loss at what the Government's real goal is in terms of the economy. That has shown up in these figures. 6.9 per cent the second highest or the highest, other than SA I think, and the highest in 13 years and it is also the speed by which it's happened.
It has been a remarkable - the unemployment numbers have moved so quickly. I don't tend to reflect on State figures but these were so startlingly and of concern to Labor that I wanted to make that point. The WA voters get to decide whether that matters to them or not in only three months at a State election.
JOURNALIST: What would Labor suggest should happen differently?
O’CONNOR: Firstly, I have already mentioned broadly what we would do with the national economy. We'd invest in productivity-enhancing infrastructure. We know we are in a global knowledge-based economy so invest in education.
Look at the recent data on education. The falling standards of education in this country and this government federally want to cut funding from education, doesn't believe in needs-based funding for our kids around the country. Doesn't understand the correlation between illiterate and knowledgeable citizenry and the outcomes for the economy. We understand those things.
The most important resource of any country is always its people. But particularly in a time where we have, as I say, a globalised knowledge-based economy, we need to have our people most equipped, the most skilled, the most knowledgeable and the Federal Government is running in the wrong direction. As a result we are seeing, I think, a failure by not only business but consumers to be instilled with confidence to feel that Australia's future is anything but bright. That's something that has to change. The only way they can change is them having a plan, stop fighting with each other, stop focusing on ideological battles and focus on things that matter to everyday Australians. Thanks very much.
ENDS