Page 2206 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2016
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am pleased to reiterate to the Assembly just how well the ACT economy is performing now that we have well and truly turned the corner after the recent deep cuts to the commonwealth public service brought about by Mr Hanson’s political bedfellows. These were considerable shocks to our economy with nearly 9,000 jobs lost between June of 2012 and December of 2015. Our economy is now performing well across a range of key economic measures. I am pleased to say that the one thing that is tripling in this territory is its rate of economic growth, from 0.7 per cent in 2013-14 to 2.25 per cent in the coming fiscal year. The economy is expected to continue to expand with growth projected to reach 2.5 percent from the 2017-18 fiscal year onwards.
The government has been working hard to support this economic growth, continuing to invest in infrastructure and services and we continue to support jobs in the territory. Despite the commonwealth’s deep cuts, we have maintained spending and services and confidence in the economy. What we have just heard from the Leader of the Opposition is his alternative economic strategy, and that would have been a path of austerity. He has said it was bad public policy to run deficits during this period of massive economic shock. I am happy to have a disagreement with him on that point because our fiscal policy settings during that period kept Canberra out of a recession, kept our economy growing and kept people in jobs. Faced with the same circumstances, I would make the same decisions again.
If the government changes in October it is a recipe for recession for this territory because that is the Liberal Party’s history. Their policy platform is based on austerity. That is the point of difference. They do not see a role for government in supporting the economy during periods of significant economic shock. It has always been that way; it always will be that way that we have differences on those key points, and that is fine. I am comfortable with my position, and I am sure the Leader of the Opposition is comfortable with his fiscal conservatism and the position of Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey. They are his ideological bedfellows; that is the sort of administration he would run, and that is fine; a Tony Abbott approach versus our approach. That is a clear point of difference in terms of economic policy in this territory.
Keeping the economy strong means the government revenues are there to support the services and infrastructure we need. A strong economy makes it easier to return to surplus. Again, you can go down the austerity path, but that will reduce your revenues, reduce economic activity and make it hard to keep people in employment and keep the economy growing.
Our approach has been one of jobs first. That is why we have the lowest unemployment rate in the country. That is why we have maintained our AAA credit rating and why we are securing our city’s economic future through the range of policies that we have put in place. A strong economy is vital to create more and better paid jobs and finding a job is the cornerstone of wellbeing for individuals and their families. That will always be my government’s priority.
If we had cut spending at the time that the commonwealth government was cutting spending and cutting the public service, the ACT economy would have plunged into recession. Business confidence and consumer confidence would have been further
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