Page 3211 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 23 August 2017
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It is worth noting that more than half of this population increase came from the natural increase of births over deaths whilst fully one-third of our growth came from overseas migration. The 2016 census shows that our population remains younger than the Australian average, a median age of 35 compared with 38 nationally. We continue to be the best educated Australians, the happiest Australians, the healthiest Australians, the longest living Australians and we have the highest average earnings in the country. Thirty-two per cent of Canberrans, one in three, have attended post school study compared with around one in five nationally.
Population growth has been a contributor to the city’s economic growth. Having more people increases demand for local goods and services. It certainly stimulates construction activity not only in the housing market but in other areas of construction activity. Clearly with more students coming to study in Canberra it is contributing to the growth of our single largest export earner, the higher education sector. In the four years between June 2012 and June 2016 the ACT’s population grew by 7.1 per cent, helping our economy grow by 8.5 per cent.
The point worth emphasising here is that the population growth is contributing to our city’s economic growth and over 26,000 local businesses benefit from a larger customer base. The 15,000 Canberrans who work in construction benefit from more and better local job opportunities. The 74,000 young people under the age of 15 years benefit from growing up in a thriving and more diverse city.
Fortunately, in this community there is not much sympathy for the “f-off, we are full” mentality that is seen in other parts of this country. I want to take this opportunity this morning to again emphasise that we welcome new Canberrans and that we see population growth as a strong positive for this community.
Much of the city’s growth since the last census has been in our north with the Gungahlin region growing by almost 24,000 people between 2011 and 2016. Our inner suburbs and Woden also saw continued growth, adding around 7,800 people and 6,500 people, respectively.
These census figures reinforce the government’s strategy of investing in our city so that we are ready for future growth and getting ahead of some of the congestion challenges that larger cities are facing. We do not want Sydney-style traffic jams to bank up. That is why we are building new infrastructure now. It is why work is well underway on stage 1 of light rail, linking the fastest growing part of our city with our CBD. It is why we are getting on with the planning of stage 2 of the network.
We are not waiting for bed block and long waiting lists to become a problem before investing in our health system. We are getting on with building a range of new health infrastructure, including the SPIRE centre at the Canberra Hospital, expanding the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children and planning for a future north side hospital.
We are working to ensure that every Canberra student can find a place in a great local school. This year’s budget invested in expanding five Gungahlin schools, as well as starting scoping work for a new school in the Molonglo Valley.
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