The Coalition plan to solve ‘high’ unemployment rate on Gold Coast
The Morrison government’s Stuart Robert has pledged to drive down Gold Coast unemployment, which is higher than both the state and national rate – and Anthony Albanese’s guess.
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The Morrison government has pledged to drive down Gold Coast unemployment, which is higher than both the state and national rate - and Anthony Albanese’s guess.
And it plans to target all sectors because the vacancies are “everywhere”.
“There’s a higher unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent – higher than the state average of 4.35 and the national average of four per cent,” Fadden MP and Employment Minister Stuart Robert said on Wednesday.
“One of the reasons it’s so high is the very high participation rate.”
Earlier this week, Labor leader Anthony Albanese wrongly guessed the national jobless rate was 5.4 per cent before admitting he didn’t know what it was.
Mr Robert said a “lot of people were wanting to enter the jobs market”, including more young people than in other locations.
Hospitality, construction and trades – the pillars of the Coast economy – are struggling the most with vacancies.
“(There’s) 3170 jobs right now on a board inside for Gold Coasters to go and grab,” said Mr Robert said at the Gold Coast Jobs Fair at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach.
Mr Robert said training was a key focus to the government’s plan to reduce unemployment and create 1.3 million more jobs nationwide in five years. He added a return of visitors to the Coast would help the city.
The Coalition’s jobs plan includes tax incentives for businesses to train workers, incentives for apprentices and 800,000 new training positions, supported by infrastructure spending.
Labor proposes implementing fairer working conditions for gig workers like Uber drivers, as well as enshrining job security in the Fair Work Act.
The Opposition says it will also fight for casual workers, pay equality and against wage theft.
Mr Robert took a shot at Mr Albanese after the potential future Prime Minister stumbled on queries about the national unemployment and cash rates this week.
Mr Robert said jobs fairs across Queensland showed “the Morrison government’s economic plan is working, and it’s working well, and now is not the time to be moving to an untried, untested leader in Mr Albanese”.
“A leader who can’t tell you what the unemployment numbers are. A leader who can’t tell you what the cost of cash is,” he said.
“A leader who is not interested in developing a strong economy that pays for light rail that’s going past here right now, of which the Morrison government is investing in phase three.”
He said the government was not worried about casualisation on the Gold Coast, where “there’s always a degree of casualisation”.
Mr Robert was also asked about more funding to get the heavy rail to Gold Coast Airport. “We’ve funded light rail phase three … we’ve funded over a billion dollars to the Coomera Connector (also known as the second M1) and, of course, we’re funding business case studies on the efficacy of rail,” he said.
“You’ve seen, of course, from Beenleigh to Kuraby, a substantial funding commitment there to actually get that rail moving. So we are moving extensively in getting rail as key options.”
On crippling rental costs and low vacancy rates, Mr Robert was hesitant to pledge more federal assistance.
“Already, the government is providing over $7 billion to the states and territories, who maintain primary responsibility for issues of housing.”
About 23,800 of the city’s 721,600-plus residents were on a welfare payment (about 3.30 per cent), Mr Robert said.
Why rusted-on Liberal voters will change their vote
Earlier: The Gold Coast is home to three of the safest Liberal seats in the country.
But they may still deliver Prime Minister Scott Morrison a bloody nose in May’s Federal election.
Labor have never come close to wresting the core Gold Coast seats of Fadden, Moncrieff and McPherson from the Liberals, which are all held on huge margins.
There appears little chance of that run being disrupted in May, but in a sign of a possible backlash against Mr Morrison’s government, a number of rusted-on Liberal voters told the Bulletin they were considering switching their vote to minor parties.
Broadbeach resident Vern Scrimshaw said although he would not vote Labor, he was undecided who would get his first preference.
“Until Malcolm Turnbull came along I was a rusted on Liberal man but when Turnbull came along he did a WD40 on me and I became unrusted,” Mr Scrimshaw said.
“(This time) I haven’t quite made up my mind yet.
“I’m looking for somebody who may be sympathetic to Liberals. I may vote for The Liberal Democrats.
“I get that I’m probably wasting my vote. But I’m thinking about them.”
Broadbeach is part of the Moncrieff electorate represented by Liberal Angie Bell. In the 2019 election, Ms Bell romped home with 65.36 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, with Labor a distant second.
Mr Scrimshaw said although he was disappointed with the Liberal Party, he could not imagine voting for Labor.
“There’s a lot of people around who just can’t vote Labor,” Mr Scrimshaw said.
“I think it’s because of their affiliation with the unions.
“And because, although they say they’re not, I think Labor are going to hang their hat on the same post as the Greens.”
Griffith University politics guru Dr Paul Williams said a swing to minor parties of the right was on the cards amid a growing mood for change.
“The polling interstate shows Clive Palmer’s advertising is starting to bite,” Dr Williams said.
“Out of the three populist parties it will be Pauline Hanson first, Palmer second and Campbell Newman third I would have thought, but things might change.”
Dr Williams said there was a common assumption that places such as the Gold Coast lost out on funding because ‘rusted on’ voters ensured their seats were safe. However he said despite “pork barrelling” at election time, this assumption was not entirely correct.
“There is no cut and dry rule,” Dr Williams said. “If you are in a safe seat, the mantra has always been, the assumption has always been. you tend to get overlooked.
“We’ve seen that recently with pork-barrelling at state and federal level.
“But it’s much more nuanced than that.
“... What happens in very safe seats is often you can get quite senior people in the party in those seats, possibly those with big aspirations. And therefore they tend to have disproportionate sway in the party room, they themselves can become cabinet ministers, and then they can start diverting largesse to their seats and seats like them.
“(Fadden MP) Stuart Robert is a good example, where he is not just a shaker and mover in the Liberal Party, but he is a very good friend of Scott Morrison personally.
“So it depends on the candidate, it depends on the electoral cycle. There is no cut and dry answer. A senior mover and shaker in a safe government seat is going to get largesse.”
Dr Williams said safe seats held by opposition MPs were more likely to be overlooked – a situation the Gold Coast would endure if Labor wins in May.
That outcome was looking increasingly likely, Dr Williams said, with the bellwether seat of Forde which covers Logan and parts of the northern Gold Coast among those which could change hands.
“Forde I think may fall this time. Even though it’s on a big margin,” Dr Williams said.
“Forde and Petrie are Struggle Street electorates, and when the electorate’s suffering they’re the sort of seats where voters go, ‘stuff my party loyalties, I’m gone’. They don’t have much party loyalty. It’s all about economics.
“... Labor couldn’t win in 2016 because the economy was OK. If one thing knocks off Scott Morrison (this time) it could be something as simple as petrol. That’s going to hurt the people in Forde very very severely.”
Dr Williams said rumblings on the Gold Coast, even among ‘rusted on’ voters, were being reflected right across Queensland, spelling bad news for Mr Morrison.
“I’m detecting a mood for change that four months ago I didn’t detect,” he said. “It’s all fallen in a heap since New Year’s Day.
“Even up until Christmas it looked like the Morrison government would hang on. They’ll hang on by the skin of their teeth but they’ll hang on. At worst it’ll be a minority government and they’ll find the numbers. But it’s all fallen in a heap since January.
“Culturally, Scott Morrison’s become a meme. He’s become a joke. All the YouTube videos ...
“I think the electorate’s made up its mind. It’s looking very bad for Morrison.”
Hidden significance of quiet but ‘volatile’ suburb
UPPER COOMERA is, in many ways, a typical Gold Coast suburb.
It is quiet and green, well served by public and private schools, and popular with families.
But there is one thing that makes it unique. In a solidly blue city, come election time, it swings.
Analysis by News Corp has shown the Upper Coomera North booth, hosted at Upper Coomera State College, is rated “volatile” – capable of going Labor or Liberal.
The only other such booth in the Gold Coast is in the rainforest-enveloped suburb of Springbrook.
WHY NEW UPPER COOMERA CAFE HAS BEEN INUNDATED WITH CUSTOMERS
Upper Coomera is part of the electorate of Forde, held by Liberal Bert van Manen.
At the 2016 election, Mr Van Manen clung on by a whisker from Labor challenger Des Hardman, reflecting the struggles of Liberals across Australia. Upper Coomera, on that occasion, swung to Labor.
In 2019, Mr van Manen was far more comfortably returned, benefiting from a 7.1 per cent swing in his favour as the Liberals swept Queensland. Upper Coomera was among the areas firmly back in the van Manen camp.
It’s a history that suggests the views of its electorate will, uniquely on the Gold Coast, speak volumes about how the main players are faring ahead of the federal election that looms in May.
Mr van Manen’s chief rival on this occasion will be Labor’s Rowan Holzberger.
And the omens are not good for the sitting MP, or the government of Scott Morrison.
Locals told the Bulletin this week that the issues of transport, housing and healthcare were paramount.
Few people know the area better than Oliver Rodgers, principal of Rodgers & Wilson Real Estate.
Mr Rodgers said the suburb was “brilliant” for families. “It doesn’t get much better than around here for raising a family,” he said.
But Mr Rodgers said transport remained a huge headache for locals in a suburb with limited access to public transport, in which almost all journeys are by car.
“It’s terrible,” he said.
“The M1 is packed, especially during peak hour. But even during the day, at lunch time, it’s still busy on the M1 around here heading towards Helensvale and the south.
“And as soon as there’s a crash, it’s done.”
The Coomera M1 exit was upgraded five years ago at a cost of $74.7m – $10m of which came from the federal government. However, it remains clogged at peak hours, especially for traffic attempting to join the motorway heading south.
Both Liberal and Labor have also pledged federal support for the building of the Coomera Connector, which would not run through Upper Coomera, but might at least ease traffic on the M1.
However, Mr Rodgers said he was concerned the issue would still continue to get worse.
“Motorways are obviously designed for inter-city travel, but we have to use it locally to get from suburb to suburb,” he said.
“... They’re planning to build the Coomera Connector, but now it’s just been released it’s going to be four lanes instead of six and it’s not going to stop any gridlock whatsoever.
“And it’s only going to get worse around here with the growth they’re forecasting for the northern Gold Coast.”
Healthcare also looms large as an issue for Upper Coomera voters, with plans for a hospital on the northern Gold Coast still a long way from being realised.
Resident Dianne Gough, who was yet to decide which way she would vote this year, said a lack of housing was also a serious concern.
“We desperately need another hospital,” Ms Gough said. “The waiting is just so bad.
“And people have nowhere to live. We need to get more units built. We need to build them quickly, even if it’s just cheap units.”
Ominously for Mr van Manen, although locals told the Bulletin they were nonplussed by Labor leader Anthony Albanese, they were clearly unimpressed by Mr Morrison’s leadership.
John Moffatt-Smith said he could name “three or four” Liberal leaders who had done a good job, but in his view Mr Morrison had made some “strange decisions” and was not among them.
“Scott Morrison has not done well in crises,” Mr Moffatt-Smith said, citing the 2020 bush fires and recent floods.
“The problem Labor have is Albo. He doesn’t have the charisma of other leaders.
“But they’ve decided he’s the best man for the job.”
Mr Moffatt-Smith said he had been impressed by how Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had handled the Covid-19 pandemic, which helped encourage him to vote Labor on this occasion.
“We feel Labor will do the job because they all stay along party lines,” Mr Moffatt-Smith said.
“So it would be safe for Queensland and safe for us to go with Labor.”
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