To: Simon Birmingham and Malcolm Turnbull
Give Our Youth a Better Future
We call on Simon Birmingham and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to reverse the cuts to education and invest in vocational education and training.
Why is this important?
Youth unemployment is on the rise all around the country, with one in eight youngsters in NSW currently jobless. In the Shoalhaven, like many places around Australia, industries are disappearing, leaving locals with little to no jobs. And now with the decimation of TAFE colleges in NSW the prospect of a bright future for our children is eroding before our eyes.
Our world class TAFE system provides an important pathway to skills and employment but government cuts mean our ability to gain the skills needed in today’s workforce are being ripped away. Couple this with the prospect of 100k degrees and what chance do the next generation have?
Education should be a right. It is the responsibility of government to ensure that it is accessible to everyone.
With the looming influx of overseas workers brought on by the new ChAFTA agreement we are staring down the barrel of a youth unemployment crisis. Now is the time to act.