Kevin’s present to Australian Young People

12-August-2009

Dear Kevin

 Today on International Youth Day I am sure you will be contemplating the contributions of many young people to the Dear Kevin book – a “collection of young people's letters, stories and artwork that expresses what young Australians are thankful for, what they hope for, and what they would like to recommend”.  Young people are our future and the decisions that you make today will have a fundamental effect on them tomorrow.  But while you contemplate this, consider the following:

 ·         The huge and unprecedented burden of debt created by your last Budget will hang like an albatross around the neck of our young people.  They will bear the brunt of your profligacy.  Every man, women and child in this country is now burdened with a debt of $9000.  On 24 June Australia’s debt passed $100 billion and it mounts at a rate of $1 billion a week;

 ·         Young Australians will find it harder and harder to find a job as your reckless management of the economy has meant that unemployment is predicted to soar to 1 million people by 2010-2011.  Many of these people will be young jobseekers and like the millions of people abandoned by the Keating Government during the “recession we had to have” the process will be disheartening and soul destroying:

 ·         Your Budget revealed that Labor has no plan to ensure that our small and medium businesses can grow and create jobs in the future and there was nothing of significance to boost apprenticeships for young Australians;

 ·         Despite overwhelming evidence of the negative health and social effects of illicit drugs you chose to rip $24.7 million out of the National Illicit Drug Strategy leaving our youth more vulnerable to the threat of illicit drugs;

 ·         Even though it is a vital avenue of income support for students, you tightened the criteria for establishing independence under the Youth Allowance with the effect that some young people currently working towards meeting the criteria will have their plans for further study thrown into disarray;

 ·         You are attempting to gouge students with a compulsory $250 Higher Education Fee which you promised before the last election not to introduce; and,

 ·         By abolishing Commonwealth Scholarships (through the Higher Education Support Amendment (2009 Budget Measures) Bill 2009), without having another scholarship system already functioning, you are abolishing a system that has helped tens of thousands of students realise their dreams to attend university;

 Despite your spin there is no disguising the fact that it is a bleak outlook for young Australians.  Because of Labor’s reckless spending our young people will be the ones paying for many years to come – with economists predicting it will take up to 20 years to repay the debt that Labor has managed to accumulate in just 18 months!

 Happy International Youth Day, Kevin.

 Sophie