MEDIA STATEMENT : EMPLOYMENT & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Active Community Team election statement on Employment & Economic Development was released jointly today, in Port Kembla, by Councillor Kerrie Christian (W1 Candidate), with ACT Youth Spokesperson, Andrew Anthony (W4 Candidate) and ACT Unemployed Workers Spokesperson, Bob Challinor (W1 Candidate).
"Jobs is the one biggest challenge facing this region," stated Cr Christian, "and it is jobs not just for young people, but also for males over 45, whose jobs in industry have disappeared."
Cr Christian considered that the problems needed a joint effort by all levels of government, both big and small business, and also the community. The downsizing of larger industries as well as the public sector, together with the relentless automation of the last 20 years has wiped out thousands of jobs in the area, jobs that have been denied young people.
"We've got to act now, to start to turn around the jobs situation," stated Andrew Anthony, ACT's Youth Spokesperson, "young people need to have some hope of a future - we can't afford to do what Newcastle did, where they waited until the threat of the steelworks closure became a reality, we need to act now."
Mr Anthony is a young university student, who has had a number of jobs, before he started his own part-time computer business, who well understands the pressures on today's youth. He sees the problems of drugs as a symptom, rather than a cause of the region's problems.
"We need to find jobs for youth and even look at helping young people to create their own jobs, by starting up their own business, even if it's really small-scale at first," explained Mr Anthony, "young people need help in this area."
ACT's Unemployed Workers Spokesperson, Bob Challinor, is concerned that the effort on jobs has focused on some areas, but neglected the trades area, a traditional source of jobs for those not going onto tertiary education, and also an area from which many young men were able to subsequently set up their own businesses.
"Tourism and computing have their place for providing jobs," said Mr Challinor, "but not everyone can be employed in those areas, we also need other jobs such as trades for both young men and women - not everyone can go to university."
Cr Christian considered that there were a number of strengths in the region, but unfortunately it seemed to have become a self-fulfilling prophecy that the Illawarra trailed the Hunter Region in terms of engineering capability and innovation. She considered that this mindset of the Illawarra's lack of ability needed to be broken if jobs of the future were to be generated. Cr Christian praised local firms such as those who are world leaders in engineering coatings technology and others who are moving from their traditional umbilical cord-like attachment to the steel industry and now moving towards areas such surgical implant manufacture.
"We need to help engineering and technology firms grow their businesses, so that we can generate the jobs that are desperately needed in this region, " commented Cr Christian, "we do have a strong high technology base in this area and with a combined effort from all we should be able to claw back some of the lost trades jobs."
"If we can build blast furnaces, oil rigs and under-harbour tunnels in this region, we can build almost anything," stated Cr Christian, "we need to transform Wollongong, no matter what the future of the steel industry."
Authorised : Cr Kerrie Christian - Active Community Team - ph - 0408 115 099
August 30 1999
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