Ms WORTH(12.59 p.m.) —The member for Sydney (Mr Peter Baldwin), when he spoke, showed just how out of touch he is. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Beazley) has come in here and has compounded the problem. They were thrown out just over a year ago because they were out of touch and because people had lost faith in them. They are proving it again today; they are absolutely out of touch. The Leader of the Opposition had the temerity to use words like `blame', `failure', `evil' and `commonsense'—all out of context. Is community work evil or is it good? I would say to you it is good.

Young people these days have a saying—and I bet some of you have heard it—`Get a life!' This is an opportunity to give some of them a chance to get a life, as they say, while unfortunately they are unemployed. For Labor, after 13 years, to now attempt to take the high moral ground is absolute hypocrisy. In the state I come from, with the double whammy effect of Labor federally and Labor at a state level, every individual in that state is now up for what has been the disaster and failure of Labor at a state level—with the Beazley black hole on top of that. But even if we leave out the Beazley black hole, we are paying $83,000 every hour of every day of every week of the year in interest alone on the debt that has been run up there.

What type of environment is that? What type of incentive is there for business to get on and do things there and be able to employ people without a whole lot of effort and help going into it?

Today there are thousands of good Australians out of work through no fault of their own. There is a huge pool of youth and talent that is being wasted. Tragically whole com munities are feeling the negative social consequences of long-term unemployment. We all know that; it is not just felt on one side of this House.

Unemployment is Australia's No. 1 priority as we confront the next millennium. We should not and indeed cannot afford to resign ourselves to structural unemployment somewhere between eight and 10 per cent of the labour force. The unemployed are our fellow Australians, our neighbours and our children and it is up to all of us, including the unemployed, to work together for solutions.

But we cannot delude ourselves that these problems can be accounted for with a wave of some magic wand—it takes time. Remember, Labor had 13 years to mess it up; we need some time to fix it. It will take time. Despite some good intentions, Labor's solutions failed and it is now up to the coalition to do its best. The one thing that remains the same is the magnitude of the issues involved.

In some communities, including the inner suburbs of Adelaide, teenage unemployment is as high as 40 per cent with corresponding levels of homelessness. The ripple-like effects of unemployment touch us all. We can see those effects in our local communities and in the faces of those who have become disillusioned with the vast vanishing promises of a job for life and the great Australian dream of home ownership and a lifestyle that is the envy of the world.

Recent public attention on the high rate of youth suicide in Australia has also highlighted the direct link with unemployment. It produces antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol abuse and mental and physical decay. A recent article and study by the Australian Journal of Social Issues concluded that the long-term unemployed could be characterised by:

. . . heavy smoking, reduced participation in sport and increased drug usage. Females were drinking more and visiting the doctor more. Males were changing their drinking, friendship, eating and sleeping habits in directions indicative of loss of social contact.

The government is to be commended for the initiatives it has already put in place aimed at addressing youth and long-term unemploy ment. The Howard government has already reformed industrial relations, small business, labour market and apprenticeship programs that will provide incentives for employers to hire additional staff and expand their enterprises. But even with low interest rates this will take time.

It is not amusing—in fact, it is really quite disgusting—to see Labor members come into this place after 12 months of being in opposition and lecture us about high unemployment and what can be done about it. As if 13 years of inaction and patronising arrogance towards the unemployed—best summed up in Keating's `Go get a job' jibe to a young person in Adelaide—can be undone in a matter of months. What nonsense.

The government has a series of long-term strategies to produce long-term and real solutions. There is no other way. There are no short cuts or quick fixes. To suggest otherwise provides a false and dangerous hope to people in delicate situations and diverts attention away from the hard political decisions that must be taken to reverse labour market trends. It is insensitive, and yet another example of Labor's political opportunism.

The question remains: if the solutions are long term, what do we do in the interim? We can continue to isolate the unemployed and shut them out from making any meaningful contribution to the community, patronising them with false hope and endless cycles of programs and watch from a safe distance as a whole generation becomes more removed, more prone to antisocial behaviour and more disillusioned with the dreams that our generation grew up with, or we can provide an environment where the unemployed have avenues to remain a part of mainstream Australia and to remain an ingredient in the social chemistry that makes Australia the best place in the world to live.

The legislation before the House today provides meaningful work and life experience. It is not a real job. It is not claimed to be a real job. I say again: it provides meaningful work and life experience. It is part of getting a life, not in the sense that it will lead directly to a job every time—there are other comple mentary schemes for that, such as the apprenticeship opportunities and labour market training programs. It will be experience in the sense that it will provide an opportunity for the unemployed to once again identify themselves with those around them, to mix with people in similar circumstances, to create networks for support and advice, to work with older people and to have the opportunity to make contacts with people who can be mentors.

The work for the dole scheme is designed to break the vicious cycle of inactivity, boredom and disenchantment. Before now, unemployed Australians have had to endure periods of undeserved social ostracism. They have at times been vilified as bludgers, as being an unnecessary burden on taxpayers and unwilling to contribute in any way to the society which supports them. In my experience, those stereotypes have been far from the truth.

Visiting graduate programs for the unemployed in my electorate, I have found a willingness on their part to remain a part of society and to remain in touch with the mainstream of society. Most simply want to be given a fair go. I have heard stories from my son and his friends that, as they have got off a bus and walked home, having spent the day studying as full-time students, they have been referred to as being dole bludgers. We have to cut into that cycle and do something about it—and we do not need criticism from the other side.

Wouldn't it be nice for the unemployed to think that everybody in this place cared about them equally and was going to actually do something about helping to give them a life? This scheme provides the unemployed with an opportunity to answer their critics. I have no doubt that the vast majority will do so. The focus will be on community based projects. Have you on the other side heard that? I said `community based projects'. Is that evil? Is that bad? I suggest not.

These projects will provide direct benefits for the local communities, including tourism, environment, restoration of buildings, community service and charity work. The number of hours the person would be required to work under the initiative has been standardised on the basis of the age of the person and having regard to the national training wage award rates. This is not charity, but a mutual recognition of obligation. As I have said, I believe the vast majority of the unemployed will meet this challenge, which is both fair and reasonable. If they are not given this chance, they will continue to struggle to maintain a sense of purpose and a sense of community.

The unemployed, especially those who have been out of work for a long time, do not need to be patronised by people saying that re-entering the work force will be easy or will happen overnight. The work for the dole scheme is, however, a start. It is not a punishment but an opportunity for the unemployed to train and re-educate, to get back into the swing of things, to start putting back a semblance of routine social contact and order that is essential in all our lives. We are deprived if we do not have that.

The young unemployed especially do not want to remain inactive. Many of them have given the government the thumbs up for providing opportunities to contribute something back to the community and to have a reason to get out of the depressing and monotonous environment that they sometimes find themselves in. They do not want their talents wasted. One young job seeker from Prospect, in my electorate, wrote to me in 1995 saying, `I get more offers of benefits than I do for jobs. Are we trying to get a working nation here or a bunch of couch potatoes?'

Safety nets for those unfortunate enough not to have jobs must be maintained, but an emphasis on training, active participation and interaction with the community is also important. The work for the dole scheme provides that interaction. Ultimately, however, this initiative is secondary in comparison with other efforts by the Howard government to provide real jobs and a revitalised macro-economic climate.

The coalition does believe in training for the unemployed but only if there is a real job opportunity at the end of the line. When we were in opposition, in that last 10 months before the election, so many people from the long-term unemployed statistical line-up went into programs for six months. They came off the unemployment records. It was a cynical manoeuvring of them. When they came out the other end, without a job, they were not classed as long-term unemployed again. Statistically, and cleverly, they had been used to come out, hopefully so close to the election that they were not going to be counted, or just after the election, as freshly unemployed again. That was what we saw from Labor.

Our labour market strategies are more relevant to business needs and are in place, as is a revitalised apprenticeship program. There is also an emphasis on real job creation through small business expansion, lower interest rates and increased private sector confidence. Unemployment remains Australia's highest priority both in economic and human terms. Our performance, as with the economy, will be seriously restricted if we do not get the answers right. More importantly, our creditability as a nation of opportunity, as a people prepared to give everyone a fair go and as a community concerned with poverty, health and social isolation, will be seriously questioned. This is Australia's greatest post-war challenge and it is up to all Australians here in the parliament, in the cities and in the country areas, and the unemployed themselves, to be part of the solution.

I commend this bill to the House. It is one more initiative of the government aimed at tackling long-term and youth unemployment, and they deserve a chance.