wre

I too like the idea of national service although I would include community service as well as military and there should be scope for training in new skills eg. apprenticeship. It should also be flexible eg. 12 months over a period of ten years - either in one large block or part-time. There could be exemptions for some occupations who are having difficulty finding workers eg. farmworkers, rural doctors or nursing.

Surely "shortage of workers" is just shorthand for saying that a business is paying more that it wants to be paying.

In a free market... how can there be a shortage. Supply and demand right? If you pay enough, the workers will become available.

For an able bodied 18-40yo there are no excuses for not having a job in Australia- a bloke rocking up for an interview in a dress

wre is this a covert attack on me? Say hello if Paddington is Sydney & your wandering along William St, and as long as the attitude above prevails, you don't need to ask why you find me where you do.

This is only part of the story. Regional areas do have skills shortages but this country also has a huge backlog of jobs that need to be done but which simply do not exist at current wage rates. A good example is environmental repair, weed control in national parks, feral animal control and numerous on-farm roles that need to be done but get postponed due to higher priorities and budget limitations.

And there are people all over the world who would jump at the chance to do these jobs for only a quarter of the Australian wage because it will still be better than what they can get back home. And provided they take the job of their own free will then any questions of exploitation are a bit misdirected. And provided there are strict measures in place to ensure that these people do not end up in the existing jobs of locals, then local wages and conditions can be protected.

Such schemes already work in Singapore, Saudi Arabia and many other countries where each nationality of expat is paid more than what they would get at home but less than a local would be paid. And it works.

So any time you want to get serious about getting rid of a million hectares of rubber vine, think about the national interest and then think about awarding the work to the lowest bidder. Because it is going nowhere at the moment.