Push to bridge
Wanted: Full-time jobs and training HELEN KEMPTON
THERE are more jobs available in Tasmania than six years ago but many are low paying and part-time.
Construction magnate Royce Fairbrother says education is key to reversing earning inequality but the focus should not be solely on university degrees.
“In recent years there has been a major push to encourage our young people to get a university degree. That’s what’s considered a good education and what’s necessary if you want to succeed in life,” he said.
“I don’t argue a good education is important but I don’t believe everyone is suited, or should be pushed toward, a university education. I believe an apprenticeship or some similar means of learning a skill, is just as valuable as any university degree,” he said.
The latest Institute for the Study of Social Change Insight report shows more Tasmanians are working part-time than ever before and demographer Lisa Denny says if the decline in fulltime jobs is not reversed future generations may miss out sharing in economic and social prosperity.
Ms Denny says it is also concerning that Tasmania’s workforce was ageing faster than the population is growing.
There were 936 fewer Tasmanians in full-time employment and 14,221 more Tasmanians in part-time work in 2016 than a decade earlier, the report found.
The greatest job losses were experienced by men employed full time in the male-dominated, manufacturing sector. Gains were experienced by women employed part-time in the servicesbased sectors of healthcare and social assistance and education and training.
Treasurer Peter Gutwein disagreed with the institute’s figures, saying more than 10,000 jobs had been created under the Hodgman Government and the number of full-time jobs had increased.
“We know there is more to do, that’s why as part of this year’s budget we announced a $25 million youth employment package,” Mr Gutwein said.
Mr Gutwein said the Government had also outlined ambitious targets for 2022, including cutting the unemployment rate to the best in the country. HOUSEHOLD incomes in innerHobart are now above the national average, but the rest of Tasmania continues to lag far behind – including many of the capital’s outer suburbs.
And experts say the gap in wealth distribution across Hobart – and the state – is growing, meaning that addressing the issue must be a serious consideration for whomever wins the next election.
Ideas to combat this inequity include providing re-training opportunities so people can seek higher incomes, changing the income tax system to make it fairer for those on lower incomes and shifting public servants out of Hobart.
Tasmanian Council of Social Service chief executive Kym Goodes said inequality should not be seen as inevitable.
Cost-of-living pressures were most acutely felt by low-income households, said Ms Goodes, who wants politicians to commit to accompanying each piece of legislation with a “Cost of Living Impact Statement”.
“The statement would identify how the legislation will help address cost-of-living pressures, with a particular focus on one or more of the five key areas including health, education, employment, housing and essential services,” Ms Goodes said.
“A government should strive for truly ‘balanced books’ – not just measuring that balance economically, but also outcomes for people.
“This then pays dividends, in health, education, employment, participation rates and the strength and resilience of our communities.”
Demographer Bernard Salt said there was a common view that the divide between the haves and havenots was getting wider.
“I suspect that might be the case — particularly over the last five to six years where there has been little or no wage growth,” Mr Salt said.
While average household incomes in Hobart’s inner suburbs range from $1439 to $1645 (level or higher than the national average), the outer areas are substantially lower, ranging as low as $689.
There were 936 fewer Tasmanians in full-time employment and 14,221 more Tasmanians in part-time work in 2016 than a decade earlier.
The State Government says the relocation of Mineral Resources Tasmania from Hobart to Burnie shows its push to get more public servants out of the capital and into regional hubs can pay dividends.
More than half of Tasmania’s public servants are based in Hobart, a quarter in Launceston and 18 per cent in the North-West but the Government says it is working to change those numbers.
Almost 55 per cent of Tasmanians are in the most or second-most disadvantaged socio-economic status quintiles. While we represent only 2.25 per cent of Australia’s population, Tasmania has 3.5 per cent of the most disadvantaged households. Across Australia the average net household wealth is $809,000. In Tasmania it is $564,3000 and concentrated in certain pockets.
If you live in the corridor in Tasmania’s capital from Mt Stuart out to Tinderbox, you may be enjoying the flow-ons from the better economic times. But those living in places dominated by public housing may not be feeling the love.
Census data shows sharp income rises in inner suburbs since 2011, but not in places such as Bridgewater, Burnie, Circular Head and the Launceston suburb of Mowbray.
In some areas such as the Huon Valley and East Devonport household incomes have even fallen over the past six years.
Ms Goodes said another factor tilting the scale towards greater inequality was the increased concentration of wealth in areas where generous tax concessions afford the highest benefits to people on the highest incomes — such as real estate, shares and superannuation.
“The inconsistent tax treatment of these kinds of savings are distorting the fairness of our tax system, with flow-on implications for economic growth as well as the distribution of wealth,” Ms Goodes said.