Page 3140 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 September 2014
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We have also worked with our colleagues nationally through the Australian business number/business names registration project, where the ACT integrated its business naming functions with the national system last year and now delivers business licence information through the nationally coordinated Australian Business Licence and Information Service. Through Canberra BusinessPoint, which is part of the CBR Innovation Network, we deliver free business advice and support services to a wide range of new and existing businesses.
To support new business investment in Canberra the government has established Brand Canberra to create a fully integrated city brand that provides a consistent, cohesive and creative approach to the marketing of our city. We have established Invest Canberra, a dedicated investment promotion and facilitation service, which again is a free and impartial service to open doors for businesses to help drive investment further by providing intelligence on the local market, by fostering business connections and offering support through the investment decision and execution process. We have also continued to encourage highly skilled workers to live and work in the territory through our skilled migration processing system.
To accelerate innovation, the government has established the CBR Innovation Network. The network will have a specific remit to assist high-growth companies—companies that will return the greatest investment from limited resources. The network is about more than just IT companies and research institutions. It is a holistic approach to growing the ACT’s innovation ecosystem. All companies will benefit from the identification of gaps in the market and the development of strategies to address them.
The city’s digital action plan is also driving innovation. This plan is all about digital enabling—helping everyone and everything to go digital, to do more things online more efficiently, to drive inclusiveness and social entrepreneurship and to raise the overall productivity of our economy.
Other programs the government has in place to complement the programs I have outlined include global connect, which helps companies to access export markets; innovation connect, to accelerate viable and creative ideas along the commercialisation pathway; CollabIT, which promotes SMEs as innovative companies and establishes partnerships between government agencies, SMEs and multinationals in the ICT space; and the government’s continued funding and support for NICTA.
Madam Assistant Speaker, the government has a strong track record of supporting business in the territory, particularly small and medium sized enterprises. Whilst we have seen in Mr Smyth’s amendment and in his contribution and that of Mr Wall a highly ideological attack on workers, the government will continue to support and protect working people in this city—its core values for the Labor Party—and I commend Ms Berry for bringing this motion to the Assembly today.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Racing and Gaming, Minister for Women and Minister for the Arts) (3.57): I thank Ms Berry for bringing
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