Page 1275 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 23 August 1989
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of great concern to the Government. There is no exaggeration when I say the development of Canberra is now at a crossroads. We can either go forward as a strong and growing community or we can regress and face a slowing economy. There is only one path that is acceptable to my Government and I would suggest there is only one path that is acceptable to the vast majority of the community.
The Government is committed to a healthy private sector in Canberra. We know that, without private sector growth, employment opportunities in Canberra will be limited. The Government has given priority to building the confidence of the private sector. It has built strong links already and will do more in the future. I recently announced a business regulation review unit as a measure of our concern to make business here as efficient as possible and to ensure that government regulations do not stifle worthwhile enterprise.
We have targeted unemployment in our very first budget - another sign that we want a strong and dynamic private sector. The Government regards employment growth and maintenance as critical elements in its policies for Canberra. Opportunities for continued employment are critical to the continued health of the economy and to maintenance of the city's standards of living.
The cancellation of any development project has substantial employment implications. It does not just affect the overall community's economic health and well-being; it also causes a great deal of suffering for the people concerned who lose their employment and of course for their families as well. At its peak, employment in the ACT construction industry was 12,000. It has now fallen to 8,000, and the Government wants to ensure that this level does not drop further. Some people may be under the impression that construction workers are a transient group who follow big jobs from city to city and expect periods of unemployment as part of their lifestyle, and I think we had that particular view put to us in this Assembly.
Mr Collaery: By whom?
MS FOLLETT: I would not care to speculate, Mr Collaery. The fact that there has already been a drop of one-third in the jobs in this area, Mr Speaker, should make it very clear that further construction industry job losses will affect permanent residents. These are people who own houses in the ACT and who are committed to Canberra for their own and their children's future. We are going to do all that we can to retain investor confidence so that these people can remain in the ACT as productive members of the community.
As part of this process, the Government remains committed to effective, orderly and sensible development in Civic, in the town centres and, indeed, across all of Canberra. A possible effect of Mr Justice Kelly's interpretation of the
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