A Vision for the Future

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3936756.htm Panellists: Eric Abetz, Liberal Senate Leader; Tony Burke, Shadow Finance Minister; Heather Ridout, Businesswoman & RBA board member; Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Founder of Youth Without Borders; and James Allan, Professor of Law, University of Queensland. -- Eric Abetz Eric Abetz is the Government Senate Leader and the Minister for Employment. His portfolio places him at the forefront of the political battle following the Government’s announcement of a Royal Commission into trade union corruption. Renowned as a highly committed warrior for the Liberal Right, a reputation he won many years ago as a student politician, he is a ceaseless critic of progressive causes. Eric was born in Germany in 1958, the youngest of six children. The family migrated to Australia in 1961. Eric has degrees in arts and law from the University of Tasmania and says his political ideology was sparked during his university days when he was told exam results would not be credited unless he joined the Australian Union of Students. He became politically active and in 1980 was the only Tasmanian to become national president of the Australian Liberal Students’ Federation. Eric became a Senator in 1994, filling a casual vacancy, after a career as a barrister and solicitor. He served as Special Minister of State from 2001-06 during the Howard government and was then Minister for Forestry until the government fell in 2007. He is a strong advocate for curbs on union power, non-compulsory voting and a range of Christian conservative causes. -- Tony Burke Tony Burke is the Shadow Finance Minister and Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives. Before the 2013 election he was the Minister for Immigration, having previously been Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. He had been a minister since Labor won government in 2007. A National President of Young Labor in the 1980s, he graduated with an Arts-Law degree from the University of Sydney and in the mid-90s he became a founding director of a small business. In 1997 he began working for one of Australia's biggest unions, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. After a year in the NSW Legislative Council he entered Federal Parliament in 2004 and was immediately given a front-bench position by then leader Mark Latham as shadow minister for small business. He subsequently became Opposition immigration spokesman and entered Cabinet after Labor's election victory. -- Heather Ridout Heather Ridout is one of the prominent women in business in Australia. She chairs Australian Superannuation, is a director of several companies and is a member the Reserve Bank of Australia board. Previously she was Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group where she worked as a tireless advocate for a vast and diverse membership, representing 10,000 employers in some of the biggest and most vibrant sectors of the economy: manufacturing, construction, automotive production and telecommunications. Heather was with the AIG and its predecessor, the Metal Trades Industry Association, for over 25 years. In that time she became one of the most respected voices of the business sector and a leading figure in Australia’s public policy debate, with particular interest in the fields of economic policy, industry innovation, and education and training. She has served on several peak consultative bodies established by the Government to advise on economic policy settings. These include the Business Advisory Group on Workplace Relations, Infrastructure Australia and the Henry Review of Taxation. Heather has an honours degree in economics from the University of Sydney. She and her husband have three children and live in the Sydney suburb of Mosman. -- Yassmin Abdel-Magied At the age of 16, Yassmin Abdel-Magied founded Youth Without Borders, an organisation focused on enabling young people to work together for the implementation of positive change within their communities. Yassmin was recently named the Young Leader in The Australian Financial Review and Westpac's inaugural 100 Women of Influence Awards. Born in Sudan and moving to Australia at the age of two, she graduated top of her university year in 2011 with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (First Class Honours), and was a recipient of the University of Queensland’s Dean’s Excellence scholarship. In 2007 Yassmin was named Young Australian Muslim of the Year for her work in the community. In 2010 she was the Young Queenslander of the Year and in 2011 a finalist for Young Australian of the Year. Yassmin is a fly-in-fly-out worker on an oil rig and has a passion for Grand Prix motor racing. -- James Allan James Allan is the Garrick Professor of Law at the University of Queensland. He is a native born Canadian who practised law at a large firm in Toronto and then at the Bar in London before moving to teach law in Hong Kong, New Zealand and then Australia. He’s had sabbaticals at the Cornell Law School and the University of San Diego School of Law in the USA and at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Dalhousie Law School in Canada . Jim has published widely in the areas of constitutional law, legal philosophy and bill of rights scepticism. His latest book, Democracy in Decline, comes out this April, and argues that some lawyers and judges are undermining democracy and free speech. He also contributes to The Australian, The Spectator Australia and Quadrant. Jim has lived in Brisbane for nine years now with his wife and two kids. He represents Australia in the world senior curling championships. ---- Audience: ALP 34%, Coalition 45%, Greens 11% RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET Amanda Keogh asked: The Renewable Energy Target has been described as Australia's largest and most successful carbon abatement policy, one that could significantly assist the government in meeting its five per cent emissions reduction target by 2020. The Abbott government's planned review this year of the renewable energy target is fanning speculation that the RET - which mandates that 20 per cent of all electricity come from renewable sources by 2020 - could be revised down, or scrapped altogether. Bloomberg analysts have said that if the renewable energy target is abolished, investment in large-scale renewables would cease and the majority of companies concerned with that would close. Is the government prepared to take that risk? REPEAL CARBON TAX Jenny Shepherdson asked: It was predicted prior to the introduction of the Carbon Tax that the coal industry in Australia would lose jobs to overseas competitors and mines would be closed. In the Upper Hunter Valley basin alone between 1500 to 2000 miners and contractors lost their jobs after the scheme was introduced. Such a large number of lay-offs has an ongoing effect on the community in all business sectors and it is the belief of many business owners in the Hunter Valley that the Government's proposal to abolish the Carbon tax should go ahead. Why would the Labor Party and the Greens propose to vote against this when the Carbon Tax has caused so much unemployment and created its own financial crisis? JOBS I.R. REFORM Sun-Yong Kim asked: Since the last Labor Government dismantled the Howard IR laws, there has emerged a mountain of evidence that Fair Work Australia is strangling the life out of the business sector. According to the Australian Mining and Metals Association 82.6 per cent of AMMA members that have tried to negotiate productivity improvements in exchange for wage increases under the Fair Work Act have not been able to do so. With unemployment rising and productivity in free fall, do you really think we can wait until 2016 to address our increasingly inflexible labour markets? UNIONS ROYAL COMMISSION Emily Holm asked: When you announced the Royal Commission into Trade Union Corruption you said it would be ‘a sword that cuts both ways’ and that employers would also come under scrutiny. Why do the Royal Commission’s Terms of Reference exclude, for example, the two construction companies that have recently gone into liquidation owing millions and who were also major contributors to the Liberal Party? Why have you tried to give the public the impression that the Royal Commission will focus on both union and employer wrongdoing when this is not the case? UNEMPLOYED AUTO WORKER Brett Meredith asked via video: I worked in Europe for 21 years for an automotive/car manufacturer. I’m highly trained by European and Japanese experts. I’m now back in Australia and I’ve been searching for a job. I have done 520 job applications and I’m still unemployed. My question for you is how do you expect to re-allocate the 7000 odd workers from the closure of Ford, Holden and Toyota plants? QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR An audience member asked: Where is the vision? I would like Tony and Eric to respond to respond about the grand vision to put this country back to work. QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR An audience member asked: Employers only want skills, learnt in the workplace, not the classroom which making studying seem like a waste of time– so we are stuck with the depressing catch 22 of needing a job to get experience – yet needing experience to get a job - because employers simply refuse to train. DISABILITY SUPPORT PENSION Daniel Turner asked: My question is to Eric Abetz: I'm currently on a Disability Support Pension for various disabilities I have. I don't want to be on the DSP, I'd much rather be in work. I have applied for a number of jobs, but because of my disabilities, I am limited to applying for sit down jobs and I keep getting turned down. Can you shed more light on the government's plans for the review of the DSP?