Page 3428 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 October 2022
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DR PATERSON: Chief Minister, could you please provide examples of initiatives in the 2022-23 Budget that will drive job creation in Canberra.
MR BARR: It is clear in the coming years that jobs and skills demand are going to be highest in health and the care economy, information communication technology, advanced manufacturing, education and training, and professional services. So the budget we passed yesterday invests in these areas. It sees a very large capital works program that will deliver infrastructure and create jobs in health, education, transport and housing. Through the budget we continue to deliver the Future Jobs Fund. This year’s budget allocates funding to support jobs growth in our knowledge intensive sectors by supporting research commercialisation and capital funding, to support local innovators and entrepreneurs and drive business growth. A record $126.3 million in funding is also provided in the budget to support apprenticeships, traineeships and vocational education, which brings the total recurrent funding for skills and training to more than $180 million in 2022-23.
MR COCKS: Chief Minister, why have you not acted to address the severe labour shortages that are now being experienced across the ACT.
MR BARR: We have Madam Speaker. We will continue to invest in key services like education and training and health which will drive jobs growth in knowledge intensive sectors in Canberra. Areas where we have a competitive advantage. We are seeing confidence and investment in this sector. I want to highlight for Mr Cocks the new UNSW Canberra city campus as one example. It is a billion dollar project that will create a new defence and security innovation precinct which will complement the University of Canberra’s health innovation precinct and the Australian National University’s excellence in sectors like space and agricultural technology. Companies like Skykraft, Liquid Instruments and—
Mr Cocks: Point of relevance. Point of order.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Barr, please resume your seat. Point of order.
Mr Cocks: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question was very clearly in relation to labour shortages. The Chief Minister is going through a range of factors which—
MADAM SPEAKER: Of investment in shortages. It is in order. There is no point of order Mr Cocks. Mr Barr.
MR BARR: In case Mr Cocks was not listening, I just outlined a list of investments in our higher education sector that support and address skill shortages by providing opportunities in defence and security innovation, in health innovation and in space and agricultural technology areas. In all of which there are skills shortages. Companies like Skykraft, Liquid Instruments and QuintessenceLabs all began as research and development projects within our local tertiary institutions. The government will continue to invest in programs that enable more of our world class researchers and innovators to spin off and create new businesses and jobs for Canberrans. This in turn supports the growth and development of our higher education institutions, which obviously provides significant additional opportunity for skills
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