Annastasia Palaszczuk’s cruel decision to axe Sunshine Coast residents from accessing the Back to Work program is heartlessly punishing local job seekers.
LNP Shadow Minister for Employment Fiona Simpson said Labor are blatantly ignoring the needs of residents who are battling their hardest to put food on the table.
“There are now over 12,000 Sunshine Coast residents fighting to find work with the unemployment rate increasing by 1.7% over the last year,” Ms Simpson said.
“Youth unemployment has skyrocketed to 15% – a devastating rise of 3.5% in the last year.
“We have a youth jobs crisis on the Sunshine Coast and Annastacia Palaszczuk is deliberately making it worse by cutting desperately needed employment programs.
“The Back to Work program was initially intended for regional jobseekers but the LNP successfully campaigned for it to be extended to southeast Queensland in 2017.
“Last year Annastacia Palaszczuk decided Sunshine Coast residents shouldn’t be entitled to the same program that residents in areas south of Brisbane can access.
“Sunshine Coast residents are now fighting to find work and missing out on employment opportunities.
“The potential of the Sunshine Coast’s youth is being wasted under this Government.”
Sunshine Coast data:
- Number of Queenslanders in the jobless queue now at 12,302, up 402 in one month.
- Queenslanders in the jobless queue up 3,662 in one year.
- Unemployment rate at 6.4 per cent, up 0.2 per cent in a month and up 1.7 per cent in a year.
- Youth unemployment at 15 per cent, up 0.4 per cent in a month and up 3.5 per cent in a year.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics