Louise Yaxley reported this story on Thursday, August 7, 2014 18:14:00

MARK COLVIN: Despite the worse than expected figures, the Employment Minister Eric Abetz is sticking to his hardline approach on work for the dole and stripping young job seekers of welfare for six months.



Senator Abetz told political correspondent Louise Yaxley he blamed the jobless figure on Labor and the Greens for blocking Government plans.



ERIC ABETZ: The carbon tax was removed just in recent weeks, and it stands to reason that you won't see an immediate overnight economic recovery.



And in relation to the mining tax, yes it doesn't raise any money, but it acts as an absolute disincentive, and as a sovereign risk issue, in relation to new exploration, to new licences and to new developments, and that is why it is such a dampener on our resources sector, which has been one of our strengths, can be one of our economic strengths, and indeed, should be growing rather than stagnating as it currently is.



LOUISE YAXLEY: But the Government's been in for nearly a year now, and we've got the highest unemployment figure in 12 years.



ERIC ABETZ: And the Australian people fully understand for the first nine to 10 months of this Government, we have had our program absolutely blocked, frustrated in the Senate, courtesy of Mr Shorten and the Labour Party-Green majority in the Senate.



And they now ask why hasn't the Government done anything about this? All they need to do is look in the mirror and find the culprit there.



LOUISE YAXLEY: Are you blaming the Senate for this figure?



ERIC ABETZ: The Senate - and might I add, not the Senate per se, but the Labor-Green majority in the Senate run by Mr Shorten and Senator Milne, has to take a substantial amount of responsibility for the Government not being able to get through its economic agenda and as a result, there is no doubt they have contributed to the high unemployment figure.



It is a matter of great regret for every Australian that we have such a figure.



LOUISE YAXLEY: Those figures seem to show, though, that there's a shortage of jobs, rather than a need for measures like work for the dole.



ERIC ABETZ: Can I deal with one of the misapprehensions about work for the dole?



Work for the dole is not only about getting people job-ready, and the economic side of the equation. There is also a very strong and important social imperative to keep people engaged in social interaction with people in a work-type place, and working as a team, doing something useful with their day, and achieving an outcome that they can look at at the end of the day and say, "I've actually achieved something today".



LOUISE YAXLEY: What about the plan to take job seekers under 30 and make them wait six months to get welfare payments?



When there are figures as high as these for unemployment, does that make that an unfair measure?



ERIC ABETZ: The measures that we have in place will see a lot of the young people accept that they are able to do the sort of work that literally tens of thousands of backpackers and seasonal workers are currently undertaking in the Australian economy as we speak.



And it is my hope that a lot of younger Australians will take on these jobs that the backpackers are more than willing to undertake, but unfortunately we aren't engaging sufficient young Australians in some of these tasks, which are vitally important for our community and for our economy.



LOUISE YAXLEY: The youth unemployment rate is particularly high. What can the Government do to address that?



ERIC ABETZ: Well the youth unemployment rate is very concerning because what it means is young people are not getting the sort of start in life that we would want them to have.



And, again, I stress the issue of backpackers, they are mainly young people, coming to our country, willing to undertake the work, in circumstances where many of our fellow Australians who are young in the youth category are relying on welfare.



And I simply ask the question, why can't we translate the young who are on welfare into the jobs that the backpackers are currently undertaking as we speak?



LOUISE YAXLEY: When will this figure turn around?



ERIC ABETZ: As to when unemployment figures will turn around will depend on a host of factors.



Our task as a government is not to try to predict the future, but ensure that we do that which is right, that which is needed, that which is proper, to ensure that our economy is in the best possible shape so that it can grow jobs and deliver jobs to the Australian community.



MARK COLVIN: The Employment Minister Eric Abetz speaking to Louise Yaxley.