Page 2063 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 4 June 2019
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16,000 new jobs. Our unemployment rate is consistently one of the lowest in the country, even as our community has been growing by around 8,000 people a year.
The ACT’s $40 billion economy is significantly larger than that of Tasmania or the Northern Territory. We have become Australia’s per capita leader on services exports thanks to the strength of our higher education and tourism sectors. More than 60 per cent of Canberrans now work outside the public service, in a wide range of local industries from construction and health care to professional services and innovation.
The 2019-20 Territory Budget forecasts economic growth to steady at an average of 3.3 per cent a year over the next four years, consolidating our recent rapid growth at a more sustainable level.
We expect to see continued jobs growth and a stable housing market as ongoing population growth, low interest rates—including this afternoon’s cut—and an accommodative Australian dollar support ongoing growth in our local industries.
Our tax reform program is nearing the halfway mark. So far we have fully phased out insurance duty, cut stamp duty to zero for around 70 per cent of commercial property transactions and raised the payroll tax-free threshold so that about 90 per cent of Canberra’s small and medium businesses do not pay any payroll tax.
From 1 July this year we will go further by fully abolishing stamp duty for eligible first home buyers—making it easier for young people and those on low incomes to enter the housing market.
We understand that some households are feeling the impact of tax reform through their rates bills, which is why I want to reassure Canberrans that the heaviest lifting of this reform has been achieved.
Over these forward estimates, the rate of growth in rates will slow as we move towards the next five-year phase of the tax reform program.
This year’s Budget also limits growth in government fees and charges for households to no more than the wage price index because we understand cost-of-living pressures are a concern for some Canberra families.
The indicators all suggest Canberra’s economic outlook remains very positive. But Canberra is more than an economy—it is a community where we aim for everyone to share in the benefits of a good life.
There is a lot more to a good life than what is in your bank account. Our wellbeing is also determined by things like our environment, our connections to place and others, the quality of our services and institutions, how inclusive we are towards others, and how prepared we are to contend with future challenges and to grasp opportunities.
That is why the Government has started work on developing a broader set of indicators that can also track our community’s wellbeing over time.
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