Sunday, 8 May 2016

Malcolm Turnbull kicks off election campaign with youth unemployment plan

KIM LANDERS: The Prime Minister has used his first events on the campaign trail to highlight the policy differences with Labor.

Malcolm Turnbull says he'll use every day of this election to deliver his message about his economic plan and opportunities for "jobs and growth".

Today he's been doing that by focussing on his plan to cut the company tax rate and to tackle youth unemployment.

Political correspondent Louise Yaxley reports.

MALCOLM TUNRBULL: When you're loading melons, this is the hardest physical work in the markets, do you agree?

MARKET SELLER: I agree, absolutely. 

MALCOLM TUNRBULL: Cause you're passing melons on and off a truck all day. 

LOUISE YAXLEY: Brisbane's Rocklea markets were the Prime Minister's first election campaign stop this morning.

MALCOLM TURNBULL: In that big hall there in the markets are many businesses who Bill Shorten does not want to support, does not want support for a tax cut, does not want to support in the way we're doing. 

LOUISE YAXLEY: Mr Turnbull was promoting his plan to bring down the corporate tax rate gradually over the next 10 years by extending it to bigger and bigger businesses.

MALCOLM TURNBULL: We're talking about business; small businesses. Most of those businesses there are businesses, family-owned businesses. Many of them, I would say most of them, would be benefiting immediately from our enterprise tax cut, if not in the first year then certainly in the second year. 

LOUISE YAXLEY: That tax cut proposal is part of the Prime Minister's central campaign theme.

MALCOLM TURNBULL: We've got an election on July 2. We've got eight weeks and we'll be talking about our national economic plan every single day. Jobs and growth, confidence, Australia, its future - that's what this election is about. 

LOUISE YAXLEY: He continued the jobs message at his next campaign event at the YMCA in the suburb of north lakes in the marginal liberal electorate of Petrie.

In particular Mr Turnbull hit out at the Opposition for not backing the new PaTH (prepare-trial-hire) scheme he unveiled in last week's budget which would pay incentives to employers to take on the long-term unemployed. 

MALCOLM TURNBULL: The critical thing you need to do with young people who have not been in employment and who perhaps for whatever reason; lack of confidence, lack of experience, lack of skills are not getting into a job, what they need is a chance. What we're giving them is the best chance to get started. 

And I have to say I agree with the Brotherhood of St Laurence who was pretty scathing about the critics of this PaTH scheme. It really is a very shameful thing that the Labor Party opposes it. If they cared about the employment of young Australians, if they wanted young Australian's who are out of work to get into work and give them the chance to get into work. If they were really committed to more jobs and more growth then they would back this scheme, they would back it right up to the hilt. 

LOUISE YAXLEY: A big part of the Green's election push is to challenge both major parties to take a stronger stand against fossil fuels. As their leader Richard Di Natale spelled out this morning. 

RICHARD DI NATALE: When it comes to new coal mines we will be other only party taking what I think is the only logical science-based rational decision and that is to say, we can't continue to open up new mines if we're serious about tackling dangerous global warming. 

LOUISE YAXLEY: Mr Turnbull has defended not mentioning climate change in his election announcement yesterday 

MALCOLM TURNBULL: But let me say to you, climate change is very important and we have a good climate change policy. We are meeting our targets. We're meeting our 2020 targets, we'll exceed them in fact and we are well on track to meet our 2030 targets. Our plan is clear, it's part of a global agreement reached in Paris with all the nations of the world.

KIM LANDERS: And that is the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ending that report from Louise Yaxley.

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