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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (22 February) . . Page.. 208 ..

Ms Follett: Now they think it is the worst ever. That is what Denis Page said - the worst ever.

Mr De Domenico: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker, under standing order 39. Albeit with difficulty, even I did not interject when Ms Follett was speaking. I suggest that Mrs Carnell be given the same courtesy.

MR SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. I remind both sides of the house that we do have standing order 39 and it says:

When a Member is speaking, no other Member may converse or make any noise or disturbance to interrupt that Member.

Continue, Chief Minister.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, the growth in the ACT economy, expressed in gross state product, increased by 0.4 per cent during the September quarter 1995, as Ms Follett, if she really wanted to know, would know. Growth in the ACT economy, though, has been hindered by a number of problems, one of those being the decrease - - -

Ms Follett: It is dead.

Mr Berry: One is Kate Carnell.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MRS CARNELL: Thank you. One of those is the decrease in building approvals for 17 months straight prior to this Government coming to office. But we have turned it around at least to some extent. For the last six months we have had increased - - -

Ms Follett: No, you have not. It is the worst ever.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MRS CARNELL: For the last six months we have had increased building approvals - - -

Ms Follett: Ask Denis Page.

MR SPEAKER: Continue, Chief Minister.

MRS CARNELL: Thank you. We have had an increase of 5,300 jobs since we came to office, which you can compare with 700 in the previous 12 months. We do have the highest participation rate now in Australia, by a country mile. In fact, the ACT's unemployment rate did increase marginally, as Ms Follett said, to 7.4 per cent in January 1996, but it still remains substantially below the national rate of 8.5 per cent. The relatively low unemployment rate is quite remarkable, given the ACT's extremely high participation rate. If it had remained at its March 1995 rate, if it had remained where it was when we took office and more people were not encouraged to get back into the job market by improved - - -

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