Calls to tackle long-term unemployment as Jobseeker numbers surge
Mr Ashby called for better job pathways, fairer wages, and improved education to address growing welfare dependency.
'This is the biggest problem but it's not just a labor issue, this has been building for the last decade,'
'There should be no excuse, we've got around 660,000 people on unemployment benefits … but when you've got 50 per cent of them, now who have been on it for over two years, it's unacceptable.
'You can't continue calling it Jobseeker when people refuse to go and get a job.'
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"I'll definitely be putting my hand up, but it's something that is out of my control," he said. One Nation said it would announce Mr Stacey's replacement in the "coming weeks". Mr Bonds has previously advocated for a "dig, baby, dig" policy. He said energy and the future of mining in the Hunter were issues on which he was unwilling to be moved. "That is the hill I will be willing to die on," he said. "This issue, in this area, is all that matters. It underpins everything else," he said. Mr Bonds is expected to face competition from the party leader Pauline Hanson's daughter Lee, who ran on One Nation's Tasmanian senate ticket in the federal election. Mr Stacey thanked Ms Hanson for the opportunity to serve and represent his state and said it was a "memorable campaign". "I thank the people of NSW for trusting me with this role. I thank the staff members who joined my office to work with a brand-new senator. 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Mr Bonds is expected to face competition from the party leader Pauline Hanson's daughter Lee, who ran on One Nation's Tasmanian senate ticket in the federal election. Mr Stacey thanked Ms Hanson for the opportunity to serve and represent his state and said it was a "memorable campaign". "I thank the people of NSW for trusting me with this role. I thank the staff members who joined my office to work with a brand-new senator. I also wish all the best to my successor and the One Nation team," he said One Nation doubled its representation in the senate at the election, with Pauline Hanson's term continuing, the re-election of Malcolm Roberts in Queensland, the election of Mr Stacey in NSW and Tyron Whitten in WA.
