Deb Frecklington sets 5 per cent unemployment rate target
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has tried to talk up the state’s unemployment rate, which is now worse than Victoria, saying that JobKeeper was masking the true situation in other states. POLL
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QUEENSLAND Treasurer Cameron Dick has tried to talk up new unemployment figures that show the Sunshine State has the highest jobless rate in the country.
As LNP leader Deb Frecklington campaigned on a 5 per cent unemployment target, new figures have revealed Queensland’s unemployment rate has climbed to 7.7 per cent.
But Mr Dick said the labour force figures showed there were 1000 jobs created in Queensland everyday in September, as he claimed JobKeeper was masking the true unemployment rate in other states.
Today’s figures show that more than 200,000 Queenslanders joined jobless queues in September.
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Queensland’s figure compares with an Australian unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent.
Victoria, which has been in lockdown since July, recorded a rate of 6.7 per cent.
Mr Dick said while his government wanted more Queenslanders to get into work, the state has the highest participation rate in the country.
“What that means is more people are back looking for work in Queensland,” Mr Dick said.
“They are confident about this state and its recovery and they are looking for work.
“We want people to get back to work and we’re doing everything we can to get them back into work across the state.”
Mr Dick hit out at Ms Frecklington’s 5 per cent unemployment target, slamming it as a “sham”.
“There is absolutely no way you can get to 5 per cent unemployment in Queensland if you are going to sack 30,000 workers to get back to surplus,” he said.
Asked why Labor won’t set a jobless rate target, Mr Dick pointed to the pandemic.
“The LNP’s unemployment target is not worth the paper it’s written on,” he said.
“When they last set a target of 4 per cent, unemployment went up and skyrocketed to 7.2 without a pandemic.”
Despite 33,000 jobs being created, there were 43,000 more people who wanted a job.
Queensland’s unemployment rate in August was 7.5 per cent, having fallen after recording 8.8 per cent in July.
The country’s best performing jurisdictions were the ACT at 3.8 per cent and NT on 4.8 per cent.
Flagging her employment target policy, Ms Frecklington said jobless Queenslanders needed a
government with an “economic plan to achieve a jobs target”, promising to set one at 5 per cent.
“If you don’t set targets, you don’t have focus and you simply aren’t working hard enough,” the Opposition Leader told The Courier-Mail.
“The LNP’s target of 5 per cent means Queensland’s economy is growing and jobs are being created.
“The LNP’s economic plan will create 150,000 jobs by investing in job-creating infrastructure, lowering taxes and reducing electricity prices.”
According to Queensland Government Station’s Office data, the last time Queensland’s unemployment rate was at five per cent was in April, 2009 when Anna Bligh was premier.
The Palaszczuk Government’s COVID-19 fiscal and economic review projects that the year average unemployment rate for 2020-21 will be 8.5 per cent, with gross state product of .25 per cent.
The forecasts are based on the key assumption that the spread of the virus remains under control in Queensland and that restrictions “continue to be gradually unwound”.
Quizzed yesterday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk did not nominate a post-COVID unemployment target, as she touted her government’s tough border measures.
“Those states that actually put in strict border controls and measures … those economies have been able to come back faster,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“In other parts of the world, industries are shut down. No one is working. You can’t work if you’re sick.
“I want to keep Queenslanders safe and that is why we have a strong economic recovery plan to get Queenslanders back into work.”
Ms Palaszczuk said she wanted Queensland’s current unemployment to “absolutely” go down, as she claimed her government had grown 250,000 jobs pre-COVID.