mX Sydney Editor Melissa Matheson on Generation Success summit’s importance

TONY Abbott is all for helping young Australians “bring home the bacon” — and it’s the only thing he ate at the Generation Success breakfast.

TONY Abbott is all for helping young Australians “bring home the bacon” — and it’s the only thing he ate at breakfast yesterday.

I sat next to the Prime Minister at the Generation Success breakfast, in a room filled with the country’s top CEOs and young workers representing major companies.

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I met these incredible youths last month, each of them put forward by their bosses as a shining example of what young people can achieve when they’re given the chance.

We were tasked with helping more young people get that chance, by brainstorming solutions to youth unemployment and presenting them to Mr Abbott and his government.

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You would think I’d relish the opportunity to give the Prime Minister a piece of my mind.

But as I sat next to him and politely chatted about the economy, journalism and exercise regimes over scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes and hash browns, all I could think was: Why has he eaten nothing but the bacon?

I kept staring at his plate of food, nervous and perplexed, until the Prime Minister took to the stage for his key note address.

“You can always do better” ... The Prime Minister at the Generation Success breakfast.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, there’s always more to be done and you can always do better, he told us.

It doesn’t matter where you start, just that you make a start, he said.

Well then, Mr Abbott, let’s get started on how us youngsters think we can solve the problem of youth unemployment.

Despite all the pooh-poohing of gen Y — I cannot even imagine the hiding Gen Z are going to cop — we’re not afraid of hard work, we’re not afraid of a challenge.

We want employers to offer real work experience, positive feedback and ongoing mentoring.

Get in early and show high school students the variety of training and employment options available — and stop nagging them to pick one career for the rest of their life right now.

We don’t expect a free ride to the top; we just need to be shown the path to get there.

Because, as we told the Prime Minister yesterday, we all know that the only job where you start at the top is digging holes.