EMPLOYMENT - THE REAL FACTS

A letter written by Derek Whitney of Port Macquarie says, Unemployment may be at an all time low as reported in the first week of June 2006, but under employment is at an all time high. Never before in Australia's history have so many people been employed to work fewer than fifteen hours a week. In the regional town in which I live, four of Australia's major retailers employ up to fifty people each, working anywhere between three and eleven hours per week. Many have been with the same employer for more than twelve months.

This is multiplied across the whole country on a similar scale. None of these people count in the unemployment figures. Ten years ago these same stores employed fewer people to work more hours. Not everyone wants full-time work, but almost all of the employees I talk to are exasperated and angry that they cannot secure more substantial hours. The federal Government may fool some of the people some of the time, but definitely not all of the people all of the time.