Page 2617 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 October 1992
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MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (3.21): Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Mr De Domenico for putting forward what is, in fact, a matter of public importance. I am only sorry that he has done so very little with it. All we have heard, really, is a political diatribe, and one which really fails to recognise the realities of life. Madam Speaker, the fact is that unemployment in the ACT consistently has been well below the national rate. Mr De Domenico ignores that. The fact is, Madam Speaker, that the youth unemployment rate put out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is put out with an asterisk beside it which means that it is not a reliable figure. I made that point when youth unemployment figures put out by the ABS were at 11 per cent. I repeat the point when they are put out at 56 per cent. It is not a reliable figure. It is a very small sample, and the Bureau of Statistics is the first to acknowledge that.
Madam Speaker, we heard a diatribe from Mr De Domenico about labour costs. He pointed to Queensland as a place where labour costs are low. What he failed to recognise, of course, is the rate of unemployment in Queensland, which, the last time I looked, was around 11 per cent - one of the highest in the country. The argument is absolute nonsense, Madam Speaker. He made a number of blunders like that, which his bluster really failed to disguise.
I totally reject any suggestion that this Government has not done everything possible to address the current unemployment difficulties that we have in the ACT. I acknowledge that we are having difficulties. The difficulties are national; but I do repeat, Madam Speaker, that unemployment in the ACT has been and remains well below the national average. While the ACT has had the benefit of a large and relatively stable Commonwealth employment base, we are part of that national economy and we are clearly not immune from the national recession. Mr De Domenico seems to think that we are.
Compared to the rest of the country, the major impacts of the recession in the ACT, I think, could be described as fairly moderate. In fact, strong employment growth over the last three months indicates that the ACT economy is recovering from the effects of that national recession. That recovery will not be smooth or even, or certainly not dramatic; but I think we are recovering. With 153,400 employed in the ACT, there are now more people employed in the ACT than ever before. That is a fact. There are now more people employed than ever before. The growth in employment is consistent with the trend in job advertisements in the Canberra Times, with a 5.5 per cent increase in advertisements between July and September of this year. The continuing job growth figures for both males and females indicate that the ACT economy is accelerating, with some increased business confidence and renewed investment and hiring of employees.
Madam Speaker, whilst the rate of unemployment has gone from 7.8 per cent to 8.3 per cent over the past month, it is, as I say, still well below the national rate, which is 10.8 per cent. The increased rate is explained by a significant increase - I hope that members will listen to this - in the work force participation rate. That increase has been from 72.3 per cent to 73.7 per cent. That compares to a national participation rate of 63.2 per cent. So, we are significantly ahead of the rest of the nation on the participation rate, Madam Speaker, and I believe that that reflects a growing optimism and a growing desire by people to join the work force.
As with other State and Territory governments, there are limited opportunities for the ACT Government alone to have a large and immediate impact on unemployment. We have to recognise - - -
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