Politicians must be the only group capable of arguing that an increase in worthless ‘activity’ will produce better quality outcomes (‘Work for dole schemes no help in finding jobs, says expert’, Canberra Times, July 29th). With 1.64 million Australians having no work or not enough work in May, there were eight prospective applicants for every one of the 146,000 registered job vacancies across Australia. At the same time, this simple statistic ignores the added difficulties occasioned by important mismatches in skills/experience available vs those required; the location of the unemployed/underemployed vs location of vacancy; the fact that the unemployed/underemployed don’t necessarily have the financial resources to relocate & establish themselves in pursuit of what might turn out to be a short-term/low paid work opportunity etc.The Abbott government’s ‘Work-for-the-Dole’ policy is like expecting people to ride a bike without a chain & is consistent with the fine Australian tradition of treating the symptom rather than the root causes of the problem. Until real steps are taken to address these root causes, including sanctioning companies for exporting jobs & refusing to invest in the future health of our society by providing genuine employment opportunities, in particular for our young people, all the pedaling in the world won’t move us forward one inch.
– John Richardson, CLA member, Wallagoot NSW