Thursday, 3 August 2017

  • Gold Coast lost 7,400 jobs in the last year under do-nothing Labor Government
  • More than 8,000 jobseekers have given up looking for work on the Gold Coast
  • Latest ABS jobs figures show Queensland’s unemployment rate still the second worst in Australia

The extent of Labor’s jobs crisis has been laid bare, with new figures showing more than 7,000 jobs have been slashed from the Gold Coast jobs market in the last year.

On a visit to the Gold Coast today, LNP Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson and LNP Member for Mudgeeraba Ros Bates, visited Trophy Innovations and Engraving to talk about the impact of job losses on small businesses.

LNP Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson said under the Palaszczuk Labor Government, there had been an avalanche of lost jobs.

“Labor’s jobs crisis has hit especially hard on the Gold Coast where more than 7,400 jobs have been lost in the last year,” Mr Emerson said.

“Clearly, Labor’s so-called ‘jobs budget’ is nothing more than a con job from a government that is anti-investment and anti-business.

“Instead of leading the way we are falling behind other states under this do-nothing government”.

LNP Member for Mudgeeraba Ros Bates said more than 8,000 people had given up looking for work on the Gold Coast in the last year.

“We have the second highest unemployment rate in the country.

“Queensland is battling South Australia for last place and even Tasmania is beating us, meaning more and more Queenslanders are being left behind,” Ms Bates said.

“If not for the continued fall in the participation rate, unemployment would be even higher.

“Now, many Queenslanders are losing hope of ever finding work.”

Mr Emerson said the LNP’s Get Queensland Working program would reverse Labor’s lost youth jobs trend by reducing the cost of working for young apprentices and offering financial incentives for businesses which train and retain staff.

“Unlike Labor, with a jobs program that has produced only a fraction of the jobs needed on the Gold Coast, the LNP has consulted with industry and developed a real plan that will create jobs today,” Mr Emerson said.

“The LNP’s $100 million Get Queensland Working will create up to 20,000 jobs for young Queenslanders through financial incentives for businesses which take on young apprentices and vouchers for young tradies to buy their tools whether they’re a hairdresser, a carpenter or a pastry chef.

“This is about reducing the cost of working for young apprentices and incentivising businesses to train and retain young staff.

“Only an LNP Government will create jobs across Queensland, deliver the vital infrastructure projects the Gold Coast needs, and Build a Better Queensland.”