Australian Labor Party: Sharon Greison
Kevin Rudd and Labor have a range of positive policies specifically for young people.
Labor will establish the Australian Youth Forum, a formal communication channel between youth representatives, youth policy specialists and the Federal Government.
We will appoint a Minister for Youth, and establish an Office for Children and Young People to develop youth-specific policies and analyse how government initiatives affect young people.
And a Rudd Labor Government will repeal John Howard’s unfair electoral laws that close the rolls early, denying many younger Australians a vote.
In addition, a Rudd Labor Government will act on the issues that young people in Newcastle tell me are most important for their future, including climate change, industrial relations and education.
Labor’s fight against climate change includes a $105 million investment in solar and clean coal right here in Newcastle and the Hunter. We will set a national renewable energy target of 20% by 2020 and introduce a carbon trading scheme, and ratify Kyoto.
Kevin Rudd’s education revolution includes access to a school computer for every student in years 9 to 12, creating 450,000 additional skilled training places, and doubling the number of undergraduate university scholarships to 88,000.
And we will abolish John Howard’s extreme WorkChoices laws that hurt young people by stripping away penalty rates and leave loadings and forcing people onto ‘take it or leave it’ AWAs and unpredictable rosters.
As a strong voice in a Rudd Labor Government, I’ll make sure our positive plans are delivered for young people in Newcastle.
Sharon Grierson MP
Federal Member for Newcastle
www.myspace.com/sharongriersonmp
The above statement was provided to the Newcastle Youth Council by the Australian Labor Party
