Page 1840 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 22 June 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The government will conduct an evaluation of the program, which will include an independent and comprehensive review of the program’s design and its implementation. Through this process, the government will analyse the spread of activity across businesses and consumers. The review will also evaluate its stimulus impact to determine if something similar would be appropriate in the event of a further economic downturn. The findings from this process will be publicly released.
The full rollout of the ChooseCBR program opened on Wednesday, 9 June with all vouchers redeemed on the morning of Saturday, 19 June. At its heart, this was a program to get people exploring more and spending more at local businesses. Based on feedback in the trial, we redesigned it to improve business take-up and customer demand. It was not designed to guarantee every customer a discount; it was designed to stimulate spending, and that is exactly what it did.
The technical issues we experienced were unfortunate and hugely regrettable. I am sorry for the distress, the frustration and the inconvenience they caused while they were occurring and while we worked to diagnose the issues, apply a solution and to test that solution. But businesses had embraced the scheme and they stuck with it. We thank them so sincerely. They promoted it, they encouraged their customers to sign up and they benefited from it.
Canberrans shopped with ChooseCBR faster than we thought. There was a strong injection into the economy, not just in terms of the direct financial figures but the goodwill and new relationships it generated between businesses and customers. It saw existing customers spend more, and new customers experience a business for the first time.
Thank you to the entire Canberra community for embracing this new, bold initiative. It was not without issues, but it achieved its aim in stimulating spending with local businesses. Most importantly, let’s keep backing the small businesses that back us.
I present the following paper:
Update on Choose CBR—Ministerial statement, 22 June 2021.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Justice and Community Safety—Standing Committee
Scrutiny report 6
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (11.44): I present the following report:
Justice and Community Safety—Standing Committee (Legislative Scrutiny Role)—Scrutiny Report 6, dated 15 June 2021, together with a copy of the extracts of the relevant minutes of proceedings.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video