Page 148 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 26 February 2014
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Our private sector is also stronger and more established and has shown a strong willingness to work with government in supporting local jobs and growth. We have been in regular discussions with the business community. The Treasurer and I have had several roundtables with them in the last few months, and there have been public forums such as the Gungahlin Community Council business breakfast, which was put on early last week. We are looking at how we respond with short-term measures and shared priorities through working with business leaders. We are also working on regional priorities. Last week I met again with all of the regional mayors to talk about priorities for the capital region. There have also been joint representations to the federal government.
We remain extremely vigilant about federal spending and employment cuts. While the projections in the recent ACT budget review show steady gains across key indicators, deep federal cuts will threaten our economy. As 31 per cent of the ACT workforce, the commonwealth’s importance in our economy remains high and the threat of thousands of jobs looms large. Modelling across the ACT public service shows the impact of these costs running to hundreds of millions of dollars in lost economic output. While the ACT government is maintaining our employment levels, our workforce is a much smaller proportion at just 11 per cent.
On Monday I held a second meeting with the federal minister, Jamie Briggs, about measures to support adjustment in the ACT economy, including looking at options around the convention centre, looking for support for business, looking at ways the federal government, the ACT government and indeed the New South Wales government and the local councils can work together in the capital region. We also discussed the issue of international flights and the desire, certainly of the ACT government and Canberra Airport, to have international flights connecting our city, looking to the commonwealth to support us with that objective.
The government is progressing significant measures to attract investment and stimulate private sector employment growth. Recently started projects, such as the Hindmarsh Creswell development on Constitution Avenue and the Rock Development Group’s the loop in Belconnen, are a vote of confidence from the private sector.
The ACT government is also investing in public infrastructure in capital works to help maintain local employment as other major projects are completed. These are projects with a huge multiplying potential over the longer term. We look to projects like Majura parkway—a major source of investment during construction and a huge enabler for the regional transport network in the economy once completed, a $288 million project, but the long-term economic, social and environmental benefits were estimated in the business case at almost $1 billion. Capital metro is an investment drawcard and a job creator as well as a transport solution and a guide for future development opportunities across the cities.
In residential development the government has more than $500 million of greenfield and infill works in the pipeline, delivering the vital infrastructure which allows the housing industry to maintain its activity. In health, the government’s $1 billion-plus investment in health infrastructure is also delivering for employment in our economy. Recent progress in the University of Canberra public hospital is an important step on this major project, which is currently allocated $8.2 million for planning and design.
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