Page 2254 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 15 September 1992
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Priority is given to the training of our staff. They are our most important resource. This budget is an important statement about the Government's policies and priorities. So too, Madam Speaker, is our legislative program. The two go hand in hand. Our law reform program is wide-ranging and this budget gives financial expression to its outcomes.
I turn to community consultation. To the extent that our short history of self-government permits, some important traditions have emerged. One of these, very clearly, is the tradition of community consultation by this Government. We have again released the budget strategy prior to the budget. The strategy has been well received and there has been strong endorsement for its central principles of balanced recurrent budgets and prudent borrowings to invest in the continuing development of our territorial, social and physical assets. We have a strong and continuing focus on efficiency gains. The strategy sets out the benefits of careful urban renewal measures and it proposes a balance of revenue measures across business and the community.
Submissions were received from many organisations and individuals. Their contributions to the Government's deliberations have been informative and valuable. There was a debate in some quarters about the relative contributions of the public and private sectors. This Government recognises the worth of both, and this budget provides support to both. Each is essential to our future well-being. There was support from all quarters for the Government's focus on employment. There was common concern for the impact that the national recession is having on the disadvantaged. This budget delivers on these fronts to all members of the community.
I turn to the social and economic environment. The national recession, and a slowing of economic growth in the ACT, have demanded a response. The flat levels of employment in the ACT over the past year have been replaced by growth for the first two months of this financial year. The unemployment rate is also starting to fall, but while it is well below the Australian average it is still clearly unacceptable.
There are areas of strong growth in the local economy. Overall, the ACT's gross state product was estimated to have increased by 1.7 per cent in real terms, compared to only 0.4 per cent nationally over the past year. The forecast is for a higher level of activity, at 2 per cent for 1992-93. In the year to March 1992 our population increased by 2.6 per cent. The estimate for 1992-93 is 2.2 per cent, which will continue to generate growth in the labour force and a further demand for services and infrastructure. Employment is forecast to increase by one per cent this year, representing a growth of 1,500 jobs.
The two strongest sectors of our economy have been housing and retailing. For 1991-92, the number of dwelling approvals increased by 76 per cent and the value of housing finance commitments increased by 40 per cent in real terms. These growth levels reflect strong underlying demand and the recent decline in interest rates. Growth may not continue at those high levels. In the non-residential construction sector, performance has been slower, and there was an actual decline in the value of works of 1.5 per cent last year. Fortunately this is well short of the 25 per cent decline nationally, and will be turned around in the coming years through the initiatives in this budget and those announced recently by the Commonwealth.
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