Page 985 - Week 03 - Thursday, 28 February 2013
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Equally, it was disappointing to hear Julia Gillard’s recent statements along the lines of “Labor puts jobs before environment”. This of course forgets the fundamental reality that, in the long term, jobs need the environment and there will be far more jobs in living sustainably. I would like to quote the opening paragraph of the ACTU report of 2008 entitled Green gold rush—how ambitious environmental policy can make Australia a leader in the global race for green jobs—perhaps not the pithiest title, but one that was very smart nonetheless. It stated:
In this time of economic uncertainty, one of the few good news stories is the continued prospects for the growth of green industries. Strong action on climate change will promote green jobs and green businesses and help secure Australia’s economic prosperity.
The Greens are pleased that the parliamentary agreement includes, at item 3.7, a commitment to establish partnerships with construction industry stakeholders to improve training, education and awareness of energy efficiency to aid the transition to low-carbon commercial and residential construction and retrofitting. This item reflects the commitment of the ACT Greens, supported by ACT Labor, to ensure that the economy is responsive to the need to create jobs for the future.
One other necessary change in terms of creating jobs will be a shift to a more effective public transport system that helps to connect people and communities and contributes to the Canberra economy. Our long-term economic prosperity is inextricably linked to the pressures we are facing with climate change and fuel scarcity. Building a fast, frequent and reliable public transport system—which, of course, will be helped enormously by the light rail project—is a valuable investment in the Canberra economy. The project itself will create jobs in Canberra, including through the construction of the rail and the associated development that it will stimulate.
A well-recognised benefit of light rail is what economists call “agglomeration benefits”. Essentially, agglomeration benefits are the productive advantages that arise from the spatial concentration of economic activity, including through benefits such as knowledge sharing and labour market pooling. These are significant. The benefits are now well studied and documented so that they are part of formal benefit-cost ratio analyses of light rail projects done in many other countries. I understand they are not yet included in assessment of Australian transport projects, but hopefully we will get there.
It is worth considering the corollary to this—that is, the fact that building a city with a focus on car use tends to damage the economy. It becomes more spread out, more difficult to service with infrastructure, there is less connection between businesses, less foot traffic to enliven public spaces and encourage small businesses and more valuable land consumed with roads and car parks.
One area the Greens have had a continued interest in, in relation to local job creation, is in social enterprises. Government expenditure is a vital part of our economy. In Canberra this primarily comes from the commonwealth government, but the contribution that ACT government expenditure makes to the local economy should not be overlooked. The social and economic outcomes that can be achieved from
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