Mrs GASH —My question is addressed to the Minister for Schools, Vocational Educa tion and Training. Is the minister aware that many young people in my electorate of Gilmore recognise that the changing nature of the Australian economy requires a highly educated and skilled work force to compete in an international economy? How will the youth allowance assist Australia's youth to prepare for work? What is the government's response to criticisms of this popular measure?

Dr KEMP —I thank the member for Gilmore for her question. The young people in her electorate clearly are much more far-sighted than those sitting on the other side of the House who have opposed the common youth allowance. The common youth allowance is one of the most significant measures in a generation to improve assistance to young people from low income families in this country. It replaces five complex and fragmented income support schemes with one single and simple program that will be of great benefit to these young people as they move from one stage of their life to another. It provides additional assistance to 137,000 young people on income support, including many young people in regional and rural Australia.

The single most important aspect of the common youth allowance is the fact that at last it gives the right message to young people that the dole is not an acceptable alternative to investing in your future life with education and training. The common youth allowance gets rid of the schemes that the Labor Party left to the present government, which actually provided financial rewards to young people who preferred the dole to building up their skills. The fact is that Labor's approach to income support for young people actually encouraged young people to go on the dole.

I think it was very interesting to read the statement in the Sydney Morning Herald editorial this morning, which states:

The existence of unemployment benefits for young people under 18 . . . has long been a debilitating factor in Australian society. In too many cases it has encouraged young people to leave home prematurely and inclined them to welfare dependence.

That is what the Labor Party supported and did nothing to change in 13 years of government. It was never going to change this situation. It is up to this government, with the common youth allowance, to break this vicious cycle and reward young people who are prepared to lay down proper foundations for their future lives.

The common youth allowance expresses some very fundamental values of this community. It expresses values of personal responsibility, of family responsibility and of taking responsibility for your own life and planning something worth while for the future. At the same time, the Labor Party is trying to destroy legislation in the Senate which is there to provide further opportunities for young unemployed people. It is trying to destroy the work for the dole legislation and it is trying to destroy the government's reforms to employment services to make sure that unemployed people get much better opportunities to obtain jobs.

When in government, the opposition pushed youth unemployment up to 34 per cent. It is a party which has nothing positive to say at all to young people in this country or to their families. It is out of touch with the basic values of this community. Instead of the utter confusion it is showing on this, it should support this measure.