Julia Gillard unveils $1 billion jobs creation plan

[not_an_eloi]

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made a pitch to blue-collar workers, unveiling details of the Government's new $1 billion jobs package.

The legislation is designed to improve the benefits Australian companies see from large-scale projects undertaken in the country. Ms Gillard says concerns have been raised that major projects undertaken by multi-nationals tend to lean towards using international suppliers and importing material and equipment.

Under the plan, large companies will be required by law to give local firms the opportunity to bid for contracts before they are sent offshore. "When there are projects worth more than $500 million, they will need to have an Australian industry participation plan," Ms Gillard told a press conference in Melbourne. "They will need to look to how they can involve Australian businesses and create Australian jobs in what they do." Ms Gillard says the plan is designed to keep the local manufacturing industry competitive despite the high Australian dollar and other economic pressures. "I believe that modern Australia can have a great blue-collar future," she said. "We can continue to be a manufacturing nation, we can be a nation in which people make their living through blue-collar jobs that aren't intermittent or insecure or low paid, blue-collar jobs that are highly skilled and highly paid. "But we aren't going to get there by accident. We have to make sure that we shape that future."

A series of new manufacturing precincts will also be established to develop new products and skills to break into new markets. Industry and Innovation Minister Greg Combet says the precincts are a key part of the plan. "A lot of our research effort in Australia is pure research and a lot of great research has been done," he said. "But we don't perform well by international comparisons in commercialising the research effort that we make in this country. "And I think one solution to that is to get industry far more active in directing the research effort we have." The Government predicts the plan will inject $1.6 billion into the economy. Ms Gillard says the plan will be funded by removing a tax concession for big businesses. "Bigger businesses currently benefiting for a special research and development tax advantage will be forgoing that advantage," she said. The national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Paul Bastian, says the jobs package largely reflects what it has been campaigning for. "We're now going to have in legislation that any project worth more than $500 million in this country will be required to have an Australian industry participation plan to show how those projects are giving our manufacturers the opportunity to bid on a fair and reasonable basis for work," he said. "That is a big tick for us."

followed by the usual negative fud from liberal's mirabella

[freakiness]

No, but if that happened, I guess I would have to move to a location where I could get work. It's not ideal - but it's an option and it's a solution.

or if my occupation became completely redundant/obsolete - I'd make real sure that whilst I was unemployed I was doing something about getting the skills in an industry where there was plenty of work.

Even if it's a short term fix - you move to a city and work as a dish cleaner or a waiter etc

If there are no jobs around, then why are there hundreds of job vacancies in all the papers?

It's not the shortage of jobs that is the problem, it is the people without the relevant skills to fill the ones that are available, or people's reluctance to take a job that they feel is too demeaning for them or below their perceived worth - IN MOST CASES.

and if worse comes to worse, I hear that there are plenty of people turning over a reasonable income as an eBay seller - you don't even have to leave your home to do that except to go to the post office.

and whatever happened to the Avon Lady? don't think I've seen one of those since my grandma died..

and about 10 years ago Australia's top Tupperware seller was a MAN.

Everything you have said there is absolutely true.

It is easier said than done in reality in many of the areas with massive per head redundancies. 

People do retrain and do move away. However when many are moving it's more difficult to rent or sell the house and there's more competition for the jobs that do come up.

I have spent more than a couple of years working away but it's not so easy for everyone.

At a guess I'd say more than twenty of those people I used to work with have moved away. 

The whole thing is so much more traumatic when people have lived in the area for generations and have followed their family tradition and have strong family ties to their area. These people had no intention of ever moving. They are happy where they are and where they have spent and planned to spend their lives.

It's just not as easy in real life as it sounds to up and move to where the work is, especially when your area has not had unemployment problems in the past.

[*crikey*mate*]

10.4% unemployment rate here where I live... and that was before the floods... 

that "low" unemployment rate the rest of the country is hiding some very hard times in some areas... 

I was 6 months away from moving before i got my job... times were hard and jobs were even harder to find. I retrained and persisted... but I do agree that if there are not jobs where you are then you must consider moving... 

I was actually thinking about you whilst I have been thinking of all this unemployment stuff - you're a shining example of what can be done if you're determined.

As you have shown, you live in an area where there is high unemployment - so you did a course to improve yopur skills and get you a job - and from memory the added bonus is that you even like the job that you're now trained to do and have been successful in gaining employment.

[freakiness]

Supermarkets will hire older people and those without experience, so will the department stores.  As far as making decent moolah, anything's better than nothing and usually if you prove yourself useful, more comes your way.

True about the supermarkets.

You always have a better chance at getting a job if you already have a job so casual supermarket work is extremely useful as a starting point, plus they offer room for advancement or permanency if you wish to stay.  

[*crikey*mate*]

Re the Avon lady - my daughter aged 26 is an Avon rep. Most of her customers are age pensioners who don't have/can't use the internet or drive. She makes very little from them as can be expected if one is on a pension. She is lucky if they order a few dollars worth of product. Only a couple of her younger, working customers may on occasion order round $50 worth. Certainly couldn't live on it.

Waiter, kitchen-hand etc - those jobs in the main go to young people. I know as I worked in restaurants for a time. I'm sorry but I disagree with this bit as both my husband and I are still actively involved in the hospitality industry (I'm over 40 and he's over 50) - and I know the other people who are employed to work with us - especially in the positions of dish washers and waiters....

Being a seller on Ebay is no walk in the park with the huge number of non-payers. I was a powerseller about 2 years ago and have recently restarted - yep - potential problems everywhere = just like in real life - guess it just depends how much you want to earn some money eh? I doubt any job is a bed of roses and to be honest - I've rarely had any major problems - difficult to please customers - sure - but that's no dofferent to anywhere else - and as for the non payers - - meh - yeah, an inconvenience and a stall in your ability to sell that item for 11 days - but in a real store people actually steal stuff off you - so gget the goods and don't pay - so it's all in how you look at it and the attitude you take or the excuses you make to not succeed.

Just read the Discussion Board. I do - daily and absorb evry scrap of information the experienced sellers have to offer. Fabulous job this eBay selling - training is FREE. Plus you need plenty of guts to be an Ebay seller - lots and lots of carp to put up with. That's life - and if ya wanna get ahead in it - the majority of people have to deal with it - Guess it just depends how badly you want something, eh?

All in all, isn't as easy to get a job as some might think I never said iot was easy - but I did say it was possible let alone make any decent moolah from it. Also most employers don't want to train anyone so how does a person gain experience if that is the case. You do a TAFE course or find other courses that do train you - just like Cat did up there - geez - these days you can even go to uni online - you don't even have to move out of your office! and if you want more experience, you volunteer until you get some. A person just has to stop making excuses for why stuff is so hard, and find a way to make it possible - become inspired. but yeah, I know that sounds like hard work eh? Sounds like a person might need to make a few sacrifices, eh?

[*crikey*mate*]

Supermarkets will hire older people and those without experience, so will the department stores.  As far as making decent moolah, anything's better than nothing and usually if you prove yourself useful, more comes your way.

Yep - ya hit the nail on the head there - and that, I posit, is the bottom line - some people just don't think it's worth their while to work when they can fill in a few forms and get money for free, eh?

[sprinklespowerpuff]

Boy, we really get going don't we?. Love the red type. Just don't have a heart attack over this. Maybe a Bex and a good lie down?

[lakeland27]

 the recycled values disapear into a red haze, and the sheer weight of words cause one to give it wide berth. these points could be made in a few sentences, but instead we have pages of it.

stats are at hand and ignored totally for 'i thinks'

[*crikey*mate*]

and there you have it - why there will always be a divide between the haves and the have nots - for some it's just too much effort,

and why take the issue of employment prospects seriously when you can just have a bex and a good lie down and continue to whinge and moan about how hard life is instead of doing something about it?

[sprinklespowerpuff]

I like the "become inspired" bit though:^O

[lakeland27]

 there will always be a divide because its created. designed.