Mr IAN MACFARLANE (10:49 AM) —I will mention briefly that I came here to talk about far more positive things. However, the previous speaker, the member for Reid, astounds me in his lack of understanding of the situation in Queensland. The Clayton's RFA that was put forward by the Queensland state government is that in every word: it is the RFA you have when you do not have an RFA.

I am not sure how long it is since the member for Reid has been involved in the forestry industry, but I can assure him that I grew up in close proximity to one of the biggest hardwood forests in the world. I certainly understand the need for timber regeneration and how much you can harvest on a sustainable basis. I can say absolutely that the RFA put forward by the state government was a sell-out to the Greens and a pay-out to the members of the Queensland Timber Board. If you look at the membership of the Queensland Timber Board and which mills they are associated with you will find that they received an extraordinarily generous compensation package—they are pieces of silver, in fact—from the state government for their support of the state government in an RFA. But it was not an RFA on the simple basis that, firstly, it will cost jobs and, secondly, it is unsustainable in an environmental sense.

On more positive things, it is with great pleasure that I come to this chamber today to again talk about one of the most successful initiatives of the Howard government, the introduction of the Work for the Dole program. I am proud to say that one of the most successful programs to come from this initiative has been the refurbishment of the Harlaxton Hall in Toowoomba, which recently was awarded a Highly Commended in the Work for the Dole Achievement Awards of 1999.

This Work for the Dole project saw the refurbishment and improvement of the building and surrounds, making it safer, more accessible and more attractive to the community. This hall is surrounded by a community of real battlers, real Australians. When I first went to this hall I saw that it had deteriorated completely—the paint was peeling, the windows were smashed, it was unsafe to be in, and the community no longer saw it as their focal centre.

Without the Work for the Dole program, this restoration project would never have received the level of funding and support that it did. That support has made the hall an absolute credit to the community. In fact, the community takes such great pride in this hall now that they have, by word of mouth, almost completely obliterated any graffiti in the area. I am not sure what sorts of threats they are using, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I would love to know because they have been exceptionally successful. The restoration of the hall stands as a proud monument not only to the Work for the Dole program, but also to the pride within the community. And when it is taken into account that this Work for the Dole program was predominantly carried out by unemployed Aboriginal youths, it can be seen that this has given that community a real sense of purpose.

The Work for the Dole program enables us to use the philosophy of mutual obligation and see it translated into action. It acknowledges the wide range of work experiences being created in the Australian community. Some 57,000 unemployed young and older people have participated in the Work for the Dole program since it was established by the coalition in 1997, and of those people some 40 per cent have got jobs. But, as is the norm for Toowoomba, and for my electorate of Groom, my constituents in this particular project exceeded that average. In fact, they almost doubled it with 70 per cent of the youth employed under the Work for the Dole program on the Harlaxton Hall gaining full-time work, or going on to further training. Such was the enthusiasm of the participants that they actually contributed to the reconstruction of the Harlaxton Hall in their off-time. That is, even when they were not rostered in their normal Work for the Dole duties they actually went back to the hall and contributed their time and effort gratis.

The winners of the Work for the Dole Achievement Awards are featured in a Work for the Dole booklet, and I can assure all members, and senators as well, that it is an exceptionally good read. I commend it to you.