Page 2917 - Week 09 - Thursday, 18 August 2005
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another $40 million for a new school in West Belconnen is a very strong demonstration of that.
Our children will benefit from our first-class vocational education and training system; young adults will be educated at some of the best universities in the southern hemisphere; and our graduates will have the opportunity to stay and work in smart business. As always, this economic vision is coupled with a commitment to social justice, a commitment to sustainability and a commitment towards opportunity for all. Small business is, of course, central to this vision. Let us take a snapshot of what has happened over the couple of years since the government has been in office. There has been the debate around the future of City Hill. The task force has engaged with the private sector, with planning professionals and with the community sector to make that happen. We have established a dedicated economic development arm of the government; we have announced a groundbreaking agreement with the Australian National University for the City West precinct to build, over the next five to 10 years, a smart zone linking the ANU with the Canberra central area. That investment is to be worth more than $600 million over the next 10 years, with the first $50 million already committed and work under way.
Two months ago we announced a $30 million refurbishment of the National Convention Centre, and we bought the National Convention Centre for just $1.10. That is a good, sensible approach and one that will enable us to keep our infrastructure up to date. The government has also announced the $60 million Canberra home for National Information and Communication Technologies Australia, or NICTA as it is known, commercialising research in the information technology and communications area with the ANU.
In July we fixed up a defunct agreement of the previous government with the signing of an agreement with Qantas Airways that will see one of its key subsidiary businesses, Qantas Defence Services, set up a new business facility at Canberra airport. The benefits of this deal include the creation of 23 new jobs within the first year of operation. With projected business growth, we expect that this number will increase into the future. Qantas will commence a three-year marketing campaign worth $1.75 million, promoting Canberra as a tourism destination, with a $3 million investment in the establishment of the facility in the first year. On top of that the government is continuing to investigate and prepare proposals on expanding the hotel accommodation sector so we have greater capacity to host major national and international events.
The government will continue to focus on a range of other issues to address investment in our town centres as well. In total, the level of investment occurring in the city is close to $3 billion. Our colleague Mr Quinlan has asked his department to look at a range of other issues, such as skills shortages, work force availability, infrastructure development, investment climate and leveraging the private sector into commercialisation of research and development, to address the challenges our city faces. The Department of Economic Development is looking at the effects of demography, globalisation and technology. The government is also continuing to focus on very important areas such as skills shortages. Last month, Mr Quinlan announced that the ACT skilled and business migration program will resume and that the program will be marketed in our key trading markets of the United States, Asia, Western Europe and elsewhere.
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