Page 2476 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 14 November 1989
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proposal and will continue to support this participation. However, we also echo the concern of Mr Kaine that the ACT Vision, as the report is called, is a little long on glossy pictures but a little short on detail.
One clear benefit to the ACT of this participation is the opportunity the project provides for the development of the private sector as well as the expansion of existing industries in the ACT, which provide a service related facility to the education industry we have here, as well as moves by firms like Wang Australia Pty Ltd, Unisys (Australia) Ltd, Blohm and Voss (Australia) Pty Ltd and Plessey Australia Pty Ltd to establish part of their operations in Canberra.
The Rally notes, Mr Speaker, the support for the concept by the major educational and research institutions like the ANU and the newly named University of Canberra. With regard to research, we can refer to participation by the CSIRO. When all this is added to the material benefits we have here, as outlined by the new tourist promotional theme and our location midway between the two major urban areas of Australia, it is a benefit of which we should be making use now to encourage the right sorts of industries to come to the ACT. That, Mr Speaker, is what I want to concentrate on in my remarks this afternoon.
However, this task is not a simple matter of throwing some dollars out into the market as incentives for industry to come here. We must never forget that if we are able to encourage an industry to come to the ACT it can just as easily decide to relocate later if someone else provides a better deal. The key to successful diversification, however, is not to depend on a few relocations to provide the base. It is often a disadvantage to encourage large firms to move their operations or part of an operation to Canberra. They can just as easily, as I have already indicated, move elsewhere - very quickly.
So, sometimes the "small is beautiful" approach may be the best move, as smaller firms are less able to move as easily. By encouraging smaller firms in greater numbers there is a much better chance of long-term success. The explosion of the small firms into Silicon Valley in the USA provides an example of the sort of industry and style of operation that we could attract to the Canberra region. We must seek to read the next growth market and ensure that we play a major part in it. There is not much point, Mr Speaker, coming up at the rear end of the next growth market in Australia - or the world, for that matter.
Canberra can offer a planned city, an increasingly diverse and pleasant lifestyle, minimum transport problems, as those of us who have travelled both in Canberra and the other major suburban areas of Australia can clearly attest, as well as closeness to the snowfields and the coast.
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