Page 487 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 13 February 2013
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MR BARR: Well would the Leader of the Opposition shout “shame” because it is well known that when it comes to tax reform, when it comes to moving away from inefficient indirect taxes, the Liberal Party have their heads in the sand. Their interest is in promoting an inefficient tax system, it would seem. Their interest is in ensuring—
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Barr, could I draw your attention to the terms of the question, which were: what are you doing to support the ACT economy? Could I ask you to be concise and directly relevant?
MR BARR: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Tax reform is a very important part of that, as is investment in infrastructure and the ongoing promotion of private sector investment in our city. I think it is worth noting that, in spite of what has been a difficult local economic environment and a period of tight commonwealth expenditure in the territory economy, the key economic indicators for the ACT show that the policy settings the government has in place are indeed helping the territory economy to prosper. We have the third lowest unemployment rate in the country, behind only the mining boom states of WA and the Northern Territory. We maintain the second highest participation rate in the labour force—again, behind only the Northern Territory at 72.7 per cent. We have unemployment well below the national average.
Employment in the territory grew by 0.6 per cent in the 2011-12 fiscal year, which was the third strongest employment growth rate in the country. The latest gross state product data shows solid output growth for the territory and that we performed very well compared to non-mining jurisdictions in Australia. Our GSP rose by 3.5 per cent, the fourth highest growth rate in the country, again behind only WA, the Northern Territory and Queensland, whose growth was fuelled by mining.
We continue to record the highest gross household disposable income per capita—over $72,000, which is just a tick below 70 per cent higher than the national average of $42,392. We have recorded the third highest gross household disposable income growth—again, behind only those boom states of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Population growth has been strong, with growth of 1.5 per cent projected into the coming fiscal year, which will of course support economic activity. I note that this is above our historical long-run average growth rate of 1.25 per cent.
We are taking a number of significant steps to boost confidence amongst business to support jobs and to increase the productive capacity of the economy. This includes a four-year $1.7 billion infrastructure program that will support jobs in our economy. We are also adopting a market-based approach to economic development. Government intervention is limited and strategic in terms of leveraging the territory’s competitive advantages. An example of this is our recent $12 million four-year funding investment in the national ICT centre of excellence. I am pleased to advise the Assembly that Canberra is today hosting NICTA’s annual technology outreach event—(Time expired.)
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mr Gentleman.
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