Remote areas in jobs gloom

A NATIONAL report has revealed several remote Far North communities are among the biggest hot spots of youth unemployment in Australia.

The report by national antipoverty group the Brotherhood of St Laurence, titled Smashing the Avocado Debate, showed more than a quarter of young people in the Queensland outback are unemployed, making it the worst youth unemployment hot spot in Australia.

This area, surveyed by postcode, includes a number of locations in the Far North including Weipa, Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands.

Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott said youth employment was a challenge for Cape communities due to the lack of industry suited to young people.

“It’s a real concern up here, there’s not a lot of jobs available in Cape York, and a large portion of our population is welfare-dependent,” he said.

“Some of the biggest employers in Cooktown are in regional service centres, but there are a lot of jobs in education and health that are difficult to employ local youth in.

“The same goes for mining. Weipa is the biggest employer on the Cape, and it, along with the Cape Flattery Silica Mine, employs locals.

The report has prompted calls for policymakers to start coming up with solutions.

Torres Shire Council acting mayor Cr Yen Loban said the council had developed a plan to address the economic and social issues facing the community, which had been presented to the Federal Government.

“More that a fifth (21 per cent) of our young people live in overcrowded houses in our shire and we have twice as many people who are from the most disadvantaged group living in our shire compared to the rest of Queensland,” he said.

“We asked the government to seriously look into a competitive northern shipping industry to provide jobs for our communities, as well as supporting the economic development of the Torres Strait region.

“As the Queensland Productivity Commission December 2017 report noted, the achievement of greater autonomy in the Torres Strait is key to Closing the Gap and overcoming indigenous disadvantage.”

Brotherhood of St Laurence executive director Conny Lenneberg said an estimated 55,400 young people aged 15 to 24 were unemployed in Queensland in December.

“It’s devastating that despite 28 years of continuous economic growth, too many young Australians are locked out of the prosperity dividend,” she said.