Page 3431 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
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Any person who sits down and thinks about that from a commonsense perspective knows that we will be very well off as a result of the decisions that have been taken today. That is certainly how I want to think about the future of this city. How do we take this tremendous history and legacy that we have inherited and make sure that not just today but in 15 or 20 years time people look back and thank us for the decisions we took today and acknowledge that we have built on what our earlier founders gave us?
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Housing and Minister for Tourism and Events) (11.25): The ranking of Canberra as the most livable city in the world is indeed a fitting recognition of stable, far-sighted and responsible governance. I would like to take some time this morning to touch on some of the ways in which the Labor government has helped to ensure that the ACT has scored strongly on the economic measures in the OECD report.
At the outset it is important to note that since 2001 the territory government has implemented a strategic and long-term vision to promote growth in the territory economy, to create jobs and to support our community. Critical to this success has been engagement and interaction with the private sector and with the key public institutions in this city to support economic growth, to support innovation and to support knowledge-intensive businesses. And for a small regional jurisdiction, we certainly have been highly active across the private sector, public institutions, and the territory government is supporting initiatives to grow the territory’s economy.
Our business development strategy that was launched in 2012 provides the right support to capitalise on the strong foundations that we have. The strategy is already helping to create an investment environment that has seen, I think in recent reports, about 35 per cent of all new investment in property in this city, commercial and residential, coming from overseas. We are supporting that international investment and the right settings to encourage our private sector to grow and to create jobs.
The ACT government have established a range of strong programs and initiatives aimed directly at supporting the local economy, particularly in this difficult period of federal government cuts. Many of these are direct outcomes of initiatives we have already put in train, such as the CBR innovation network, and complement a range of programs and services that are being created out of the government’s business development strategy.
The CBR innovation network is in a close partnership with the business community and has recently developed the supporting business fund to help businesses and individuals obtain professional and strategic business services tailored to their needs and opportunities. The developing opportunities in businesses—expanded services program is targeted at assisting former public servants develop business opportunities and jobs to ensure that their human and financial capital remains in Canberra. The youth business connect program will assist young entrepreneurs develop ideas for establishing local businesses. The government will work to link this new funding to existing services for entrepreneurs to ensure the services provided are connected and are able to leverage a broader support network.
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