Rudd government yet to "make a move" in the right direction for Australian youth
01-April-2009
Shadow Minister for Youth Sophie Mirabella MP has joined in the celebrations for National Youth Week 2009, the theme for which this year is “Make a Move”.
“National Youth Week, which runs from 28 March to 5 April, is a positive initiative aimed at highlighting the great contribution that so many young Australians make to our community,” Shadow Minister for Youth, Sophie Mirabella said today.
“There are just over 4 million young Australians aged between 12 and 25 years (almost 20% of the population) and I was pleased to join with students at La Trobe University to celebrate National Youth Week this year and highlight the Rudd Government’s unfair tax slug on students,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“Unfortunately, the Rudd Government has done very little to match its rhetoric about the importance of this group of people on which it placed so much importance at the last election,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“The position of Minister for Youth was created with much fanfare and tasked with the job of ensuring that Government policy did not adversely impact on young people. But her contribution over the last 14 months has consisted of 23 press releases (the latest released in December last year) and the introduction of legislation to create a Higher Education Amenities Fee which will impose a $250 million tax on Australian university students.”
“There is also no sign of the promised Office for Children and Young People and the Commissioner who was supposed to lead this body,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“A major component of the Government’s election platform was the “Education Revolution” which is notable by its absence of any interest or engagement in Higher Education – an area of fundamental importance to many young people.”
The Rudd Government’s $11 billion Education Investment Fund, created by legislation passed last December is made up of previously allocated money. Advice from the Department of Education was that the Fund would only reach the $11 billion mark if there was a Budget surplus this year.
“The Government’s economic policies are failing and it is the young people of this country who will be hurt the most. Mr Rudd was left with a healthy $22 billion surplus but after a $52 billion cash splash, has now taken Australia into deficit and is racking up $200 billion in debt. With the highest youth unemployment since 2001 the future is looking very bleak for many young Australians looking for a job,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“I fear that young Australians will be the worst hit by the economic mismanagement of the Rudd Labor Government but hopefully National Youth Week will help to refocus our attention on a group of people who are so vital to the future of our country,” Mrs Mirabella concluded.