Page 450 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 2018
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to Manuka Oval and the National Convention Centre will ensure that national sporting competitions can compete in Canberra, bringing with them fans from across the country.
Our government is committed to supporting women’s sport. We will invest $1.5 million, including continued support for the Canberra Capitals and Canberra United W-League team, hopefully, once again, bringing more and more people to watch sport in Canberra. Canberra is a diverse city with fantastic tourist destinations. We will continue to support the organisations and businesses that help make Canberra a great destination. This is vital for the continued growth of our city.
The second growth industry I want to discuss very briefly is higher education. Our government values the huge contribution tertiary education makes to our economy, which is why we are one of the few states or territories that has a dedicated minister for higher education and research. Currently, one in nine Canberrans is either a student or directly employed by a university or research institution. Collectively, education and research institutions contribute $2.75 billion a year to Canberra’s economy and created 16,000 full-time equivalent jobs when last measured. Since then education exports have increased by 21 per cent and now contribute $579 million per annum to Canberra’s economy.
The memorandum of understanding between our government and UNSW to build a new campus in conjunction with CIT in Reid will create up to 10,000 new student places and further boost the higher education sector in this city.
Our government has a strong relationship with both ANU and UC, and we support research at both of these institutions. This includes $1.3 million in partnership with industry for world-leading research into autonomous vehicle technology. Canberra is uniquely placed to combine industry, government and tertiary institutions to produce specialised jobs.
An example of this partnership is the space industry. Canberra leads the nation with advanced research and technology at ANU and the CSIRO and space communication complex operated for NASA down south. Increased investment in this industry will continue to put Canberra on the world map as a leader in research and education. Space research will further strengthen and diversify the Canberra economy and it is a key component of our overall economic agenda.
The ACT’s population continues to grow, as does the number of dwellings being financed and built in the territory. These are promising indicators that more and more people want to call Canberra home. A natural consequence of having a strong economy and a livable city is an increase in population. The territory’s population expanded by almost 7,000 people over the past 12 months. This is on top of the fastest population growth in the country between the 2011 and 2016 census counts.
Our government is focused on long-term planning to meet this growth, focusing on increasing capacity in our schools and hospitals, as well as upgrading our transport system. It is equally vital to ensure that housing in Canberra does not become out of
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