PM plans 10,000-member Green Jobs Corps

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has put jobs and climate change at the centre of Labor's
agenda towards the next election, flagging a $100 million plan to create 50,000
green jobs and training opportunities.
The announcement was the centrepiece of his speech to Labor faithful at the start of
the three-day ALP national conference on Thursday.
He took to the stage with much less fanfare than two years ago, when Labor was just
months away from what turned out to be a successful federal election.
Mr Rudd told delegates his government planned to continue the Labor tradition of
nation-building.
"This is the tradition of which we are so proud. And this is the tradition which now
shapes the future we would craft for Australia," he said.
The prime minister outlined a plan to "green" the workforce through a $94 million
job creation and training program.
"The government will now create 50,000 new green jobs, traineeships and
apprenticeships aimed chiefly at helping young Australians to obtain new skills
during the downturn - new skills which will become highly applicable in the low
carbon economy of the future," Mr Rudd said.
"The climate change sceptics constantly scaremonger about the possible loss of jobs
through the transition to a lower carbon economy.
"But they constantly fail to talk about the new clean energy jobs of the future
which will arise from the introduction of the carbon pollution reduction scheme, the
renewable energy target and energy efficiency measures in the future."
The plan will consist of the creation of a 10,000-member national Green Jobs Corps,
where long-term young jobless will take part in six months of training and work
experience.
Labor plans that 30,000 apprentices will be trained with green skills, while there
will be an additional 4,000 training places for insulation installers.
There will also be another 6,000 jobs from environmental sustainability programs in
priority local economies.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Mr Rudd's announcement of 50,000 "green"
jobs was a sign that the government was serious about tackling climate change.
Ms Gillard, who is also employment and workplace relations minister, said the plan
showed the government was serious about climate change.
"In the future, as we tackle the challenge of climate change, there are going to be
new jobs created, different jobs," Ms Gillard told reporters at a building site in
Sydney.
"There are also going to be changes to the way we do some very traditional jobs,
such as being a plumber or being a carpenter.
"This package is looking at the skills that are needed in those traditional trades,
as well as those that are needed for green jobs in the future."
The Australian Greens have given qualified support to Mr Rudd's announcement that
Labor aims to create 50,000 green jobs.
Greens deputy leader Christine Milne welcomed the jobs package, but she said it
would not bear fruit unless the government committed to a 40 per cent cut in carbon
emissions by 2020.
"The worst thing Mr Rudd could do would be to train all these young Australians for
jobs in a future he has no intention of creating," Senator Milne said in statement.