Page 766 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 24 March 1993
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Mr De Domenico: How do you do it? How are you going to build confidence?
MR BERRY: I will come to that. I have told you what we have done in the tourism industry and how we are developing things in that industry. Those firms that I mentioned will provide the sorts of jobs we want in Canberra - high tech; knowledge based; clean manufacturing; about 1,300 jobs by the end of 1994.
Mr De Domenico: How many?
MR BERRY: About 1,300.
Mr De Domenico: By when?
MR BERRY: About.
Mr De Domenico: About. More? Less?
MR BERRY: I said "about". That means more or less. That is why you got the dump. As has been pointed out previously, we are also providing practical support and encouragement for small business. The Business Services Centre provides information, advice and referral services to more than 250 clients each month. In addition, we have now established a second business incubator at Kingston to support and encourage new small businesses in their critical start-up phase. The Assembly has been advised previously about the letter that the Chief Minister wrote to the Canberra business community in the new year. The Liberals think that that is their province; that they are the only people who can contact the business community, and how dare the Labor Party take a positive move to develop a bit of business confidence. We got on with the job quietly. Get out there to Canberra business and offer ways and means to assist them. All we heard from the knockers opposite was whinges and groans, particularly from the Leader of the Opposition.
How can you develop a positive approach out there in the business community when you have the Liberals bagging the place all the time, trying to drag it down, speaking of doom and gloom? You have Mrs Carnell whingeing about the health system, the education spokesperson whingeing about the education system, the business spokesperson whingeing about the businesses, and Tony De Domenico whingeing about getting the dump in the Liberal Party. There is this general moaning and groaning, doom and gloom. You have to do better than that.
We are making progress, and that is the difference. Employment continues to grow. Between January 1992 and January 1993 the number of people employed increased by 7,400 - an increase of 5 per cent. This was almost entirely in full-time jobs - an encouraging sign of the good prospects for the ACT economy. Nevertheless, we recognise that the fight against unemployment is going to be a long, hard war. A key part of our strategy is to ensure that the unemployed have skills necessary to fill jobs as they become available. The ACT Government has taken a number of initiatives over the last 12 months to raise the skills level of the unemployed. The extension of the Commonwealth Jobskills program to the ACT resulted in 270 training and work experience places for the long-term unemployed. The establishment of an ACT Jobskills program provided training and work experience for 100 additional long-term unemployed. (Quorum formed)
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