Page 4096 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 September 2017
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MS FITZHARRIS: As I mentioned in my previous answer, I will be seeking further information on this, but I reiterate that this is one of the complexities of our health service: that primary care services are largely provided by private operators, funded by the commonwealth and regulated by the commonwealth.
It is, of course, of concern to us. I encourage anyone out there in the Canberra community who is seeking after-hours care to seek it if they need to at the two emergency departments but also at the nurse walk-in centres. I know the opposition would like to shut them down, but 36,000 Canberrans who presented to nurse walk-in centres last year in Belconnen and Tuggeranong would disagree vehemently with the opposition on that. And all those people in Gungahlin, Weston Creek and the inner north who over the next couple of years will be able to access this free, after-hours and weekend service every day of the week will be thanking this government for investing in those services. They will be wondering why on earth the Canberra Liberals ever opposed them and effectively went to an election seeking to shut them down. There are also the services provided through CAHLMS. That is a service Canberrans value greatly, and it has a good partnership with ACT Health that we want to continue.
Economy—cybersecurity industry
MR STEEL: My question is to the Chief Minister. Chief Minister, can you please advise the Assembly how the growth of the cybersecurity industry is helping to diversify the ACT economy?
MR BARR: I thank Mr Steel for the question. I can advise the Assembly that cybersecurity is indeed a rapidly growing sector in the ACT and globally. The cybersecurity market is currently worth around $US126 billion globally, and it is projected to roughly double in the next decade. The growing demand for cybersecurity products, services and research provides significant economic opportunity for Canberra-based organisations and businesses.
Canberra’s cybersecurity industry provides information and data security products and services to our federal government, to Australia’s national security agencies, including the Department of Defence, the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Cyber Security Centre, and to many private sector prime contractors. This high-end user demand is driving investment in Canberra right across the sector.
We are lucky also to have brought together a connected network of higher education and research institutions, business and government agencies through the CBR Innovation Network, an innovation of this government that we are delighted to fund. This mechanism is driving a collaborative approach to problem solving, to capability development and, importantly, also to industry development. So we are very well positioned as a city to take full advantage of the national cybersecurity strategy released in April 2016, which included a $230 million investment to bolster Australia’s cyber defence capability and the commitments to cybersecurity that were outlined in the defence white paper.
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