Page 5758 - Week 18 - Tuesday, 10 December 1991
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MS FOLLETT: I thank Mr Kaine for the question. To answer the last part of Mr Kaine's question first, yes, I do believe that the budget which this Assembly has now passed is helpful in terms of the ACT's economic outlook and, indeed, in the creation of jobs. As members know, the budget contained a significant amount of money specifically for the creation of jobs for young unemployed people and for women wishing to re-enter the work force. So, there is that specific action taken within the budget, directed at getting those people back into the work force.
It is worth saying also that a balanced and responsible budget, such as the one that the Government has achieved and the Assembly has passed, is good for the ACT economy. The fact that we have reduced the ACT's debt burden in that budget is a good step, not just for the current circumstances but also for the future. Also, the fact that we have avoided new borrowings, I think, is very significant in looking after the welfare of the ACT economy.
Nevertheless, I take Mr Kaine's point about the figures released by the ANZ Bank. Of course they are of concern. Nobody would pretend that they are not. I think the article indicated my general view that the recession is catching up with the ACT and that this may be an indication that that is the case. I do not think that anybody in this Assembly would want to pretend that the recession has bypassed us, but it is a fact that the ACT has tended to weather the recession somewhat better than a lot of the States and Territories. Any casual observer looking in the back sections of the Canberra Times could note that there are fewer jobs being advertised - there is no doubt about that - and I suspect that the ANZ Bank's figures reflect that general situation.
But I am advised that the ANZ monthly figures perhaps should be treated with some caution, and that is for two reasons. Firstly, the figures are not seasonally adjusted and, secondly, the figures, I am told, do not take fully into account the public sector vacancies which are not advertised in the newspaper. As I said before, the effects of the national recession on the private sector have perhaps been no less severe in the ACT than elsewhere; and, of course, in the ACT the public sector provides a very valuable cushioning effect for our economy.
To conclude, as I say, on the whole, the ACT's economy does tend to continue to perform rather better than elsewhere; but it would be a mistake to think that the recession had passed us by. It clearly has not, and I think that the ANZ Bank's figures are some indication of that.
MR KAINE: I ask a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. It was a very comprehensive non-answer. Perhaps the Chief Minister can tell us, in round figures, how many jobs she expects her initiatives will create in the ACT in this fiscal year.
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