In the good ol’ days, we never had a Minister for Employment Participation. But with the need to share the goodies of office around, new titles have been invented , including Employment Participation. Previously occupied by Mark Arbib – although I’m not convinced he was ever concentrating on the title of his ministry – this position is now filled by the ‘redoutable’ Kate Ellis – you know the one who said a report was coming out at the end of the year, in February.
Of course, the way to ensure that everyone who wants a job can secure one is to make the labour market as flexible as possible. In this way, those with low productivity can contract into the labour market on mutually acceptable terms. But the Gillard government has moved in precisely the wrong direction on this score with the Fair Work Act and using government procurement to bully businesses into behaving in pre-determined ways eg. pro-union, gender equity, etc.
The Minister for Employment Participation has also been overseeing a series of policy changes that undermine the incentive of the unemployed to find work. These include:
- A watering down of the attendance and interview obligations imposed on the unemployed by Centrelink;
- A ridiculously expensive and bureaucratic relocation program that led to 17 (yes17) unemployed persons relocating last year at the cost of millions of dollars (Ellis:”It’s hard for people to relocate”. Tell that to the many people who volunatarily relocate for work reasons outside any government program.)
- The scuttling of the work-for-the-dole program that underpins the mutual obligation on the unemployed to undertake some activity.
And then we have the suggestion that the amount of the Newstart allowance should be lifted because of the gap between this allowance and the DSP (caused by different indexation arrangements). As a consequence, there is a strong incentive for the unemployed to seek to qualify for the DSP even though we are told that the government is tightening up the eligibility for the DSP.
But if the Minister is to act truthfully according to her title, she will need to resist these calls; the unemployed clearly need the financial incentives of a relative low Newstart allowance to secure employment, as other mechanisms are being scrapped or undermined.
Now, now – the title is Minister for Employment Participation, not Minister for Increased Employment Participation.
Maybe they were concerned that the participation was too high? That would explain why they’re always talking about keeping people in education longer – anything to lower the participation rate. Credentials are much more important than jobs! After all, credentials are the driving force of the economy (according to President Obama)
Fleeced
16 Mar 11 at 5:42 pm
How very Orwellian.
daddy dave
16 Mar 11 at 6:28 pm
If you want people to relocate then remove the stamp duty on homes.
Anon
16 Mar 11 at 6:32 pm
Anon, what makes you think the price of homes won’t rise in proportion?
pedro
16 Mar 11 at 6:55 pm
Anon’s right because if you sell in city A and city B, you lose on stamp duty, all else being equal. It decreases labor mobility.
daddy dave
16 Mar 11 at 7:03 pm
I meant – “sell in city A and buy in city B”
daddy dave
16 Mar 11 at 7:03 pm
Not suprising at all – Australia seems like a command economy and like all previous ones, will tank under its own specific internal contradictions.
The trick is to figure out how to survive this insanity….
Louis Hissink
16 Mar 11 at 7:13 pm
It’s called a motherload of rocks and shit a mere hoe away under the desert.
Peter Patton
16 Mar 11 at 7:19 pm
Disagree with some of your prescriptions, Judith. I really don’t see what there is to be gained by having an army of Centrelink people harrassing the unemployed, or useless schemes like ‘work-for-the-dole’.
I would sack most of Centrelink, with just enough staff to catch people trying to claim benefits fraudently, under multiple identities and so forth.
Provide Newstart with no harrassment and as low taper rates as possible. Then abolish the minimum wage and labour regulation, and leave it to the labour market to deal with unemployment!
(Though I suspect the ALP might have some difficulties with that last sentence.)
Piett
16 Mar 11 at 9:25 pm
Minister for Employment Participation
Well, there will be more bureaucratic roles to fill.
And, of course, Ellis now has something to do – which might be what the actual job description is meant to refer to.
Look forward to more portfolios like ‘Minister with Special Responsibility for Bad Announcements to Protect the PM’, or ‘Minister for Thanks for Voting for Me in Caucus, Mate’.
Aqualung
17 Mar 11 at 7:52 am
The participation rate reached an all time high in November. I’m not sure how this fits into Sloan’s partisan point.
Matt C
17 Mar 11 at 9:26 pm
It doesn’t, but nor does it contradict it.
daddy dave
17 Mar 11 at 9:41 pm