Sometimes in politics you can only shake your head in amazement as to how public policy is made.
For nearly 30 years our governments have been spending billions of dollars supposedly to make young Australians 'job ready' through vocational training.
Now, in the post-Covid economic recovery, we are being told there are 50,000 fruit picking jobs, 30,000 hospitality vacancies and 15,000 trades and construction jobs in NSW that can only be filled by foreign workers.
Pacific Islanders have been brought in for the farm harvest - while the other positions will be filled by going back to big immigration numbers of 200,000 per annum.
Meanwhile, some parts of western Sydney and country NSW have youth unemployment rates of 30 and 40 percent.
How hard is it to ensure Australians get first crack at the jobs?
The immigration program should be designed, first and foremost, for the benefit of people who live here now, not new arrivals.
There are so many job vacancies at the moment, anyone who says they can't find work is not really looking for it.
The only possible barrier for some is a vaccination requirement, but in many NSW workplaces this ended today (December 15) with the abolition of vaccine passports.
Bringing workers from overseas puts pressure on housing prices and adds to urban congestion.
It floods the labour market and holds down wages.
The logical alternative is to end the dole.
Anyone bludging on welfare must be made to take a job vacancy.
Scott Morrison should announce the abolition of the dole as of March 1 2022.
We can't have permanent youth unemployment in Australia, a generation who think that work is optional and taxpayers will carry them forever.
Ending the dole would be a culture shock to these job snobs, a wake up call about the necessity of work.
It would end the labour shortages quick smart, save the government vast amounts of money and avoid an over-reliance on overseas workers.
We are not talking about high-skill jobs that need years of training.
If young people in particular got off their backsides they would find work tomorrow on farms and in cafes, restaurants and pubs.
The fruit picking jobs should have gone to Indigenous unemployed in country areas, overcoming that chronic problem, instead of importing Pacific Islanders.
The soft, lazy way of dealing with the labour shortages is to turn on the immigration tap.
The realistic way is to end the dole and end Australian unemployment.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/mark-latham-why-we-should-end-the-dole-to-push-aussies-into...
Politicians would be aware of this, but any PM who would dare suggest to end the dole, would be out on their backside next election.
The rioting unleashed would rival the recent BLM riots in the US, or the rioting against Beijing in Hong Kong!
