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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (13 May) . . Page.. 1236 ..

MR HIRD (continuing):

I believe that Mrs Carnell has responded to those calls in the best possible way - in fact, in the only way she could - by producing a budget that has as its central focus the creation of jobs for the people of Canberra, particularly young people. How better to achieve that than by providing incentives for substantial growth in both the private and public sectors?

This is not an election budget - I emphasise that - as most people would have expected from a government that has to go to the people and ask for another term in government within a few months of its final-term budget being adopted. I commend Mrs Carnell for ignoring that temptation in the interests of all Canberrans. There are still cynics out there complaining that Canberra should not have had local government, that our livelihood, our future, our survival, should still be dependent on the whims of a central government that over the years has become increasingly anti-Canberra. I would remind those people that what Mrs Carnell has achieved with this budget would not have been possible under a central government's control. Mrs Carnell has accepted the responsibility of accountability to the Canberra community - the people we all represent in this place - with the delivery of a responsible budget that is the best possible solution for lifting this Territory out of its economic malaise that successive Federal governments have inflicted on us. Canberra has no alternative but to stand on its own two feet. It has become increasingly clear that we can no longer rely on the sort of assistance that past generations of Canberrans had come to expect from the Federal government - those on the hill.

I do not believe that a policy aimed solely at attracting new business ventures is the answer to our employment and economic problems. Existing local businesses are the ones most likely to provide jobs for our unemployed in the short term, and the incentives outlined in Mrs Carnell's budget will help to achieve that objective. This is a jobs and business budget. The $3m worth of incentives provided for youth employment, in spite of Mr Whitecross's insistence on downtalking and demeaning Canberra and the people he is supposed to be representing, will continue to deliver jobs for the young people of this Territory. We have already seen in the recently released figures that, as a direct result of the Government's policies, teenage unemployment rates dropped from 43.6 per cent down to 31 per cent - still not good enough, but that is a drop of 12 per cent. As well, the unemployment rate was down to 6.8 per cent in April - still not good enough - the lowest since June 1994, before we took government in March 1995. As the Chief Minister has announced, this is lower than any of the other States in Australia.

Likewise, the Government's $94.7m capital works program will generate jobs in addition to the 1,500 jobs created in April - a total of 5,600 jobs created since November 1996 - further evidence of this Government's policies working for the benefit of all of us, the Canberra community. There is a specific allocation of $4.5m for creating jobs for Canberra through employment and business, but the true picture of the Government's direct support for business is much greater than that. It is closer to $12m. Another $3.2m is committed to continuing labour market programs and economic incentives, plus another $4m in the business development fund. A $540,000 commitment to continue the ACT's participation in the assessment of the very high speed rail link will have direct benefits for businesses not only in Canberra but throughout the region.

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