Mr Quinlan said the discussion paper "Building Canberra's Economy"is a major step in the development of the Economic White Paper, which will present an economic development framework to support employment in the ACT region.

"Consistent with our election commitment, the Economic White Paper will lay down a strategic blue print for guiding the future economic development of the ACT and the surrounding region.

"The discussion paper sought to generate community feedback, and challenged the community to offer new ideas.

"We wanted to encourage the community to play an active role in the consultation process. The response from the community has been excellent. The calibre, variety and vibrancy of the written submissions characterises the community's commitment to the future of Canberra.

"The most topical issues raised in the submissions are enhancing the liveability of our city and creating a vision of Canberra as a creative capital city.

"A common theme running through the submissions is the recognition that we have a vast store of human and social capital as measured by our research and development capabilities, higher education centres and national institutions.

"The challenge for the Economic White Paper is therefore to develop a strategy that exploits our human and social capital base and create sustainable employment and economic growth so that all Canberrans are able to share the benefits of our endeavours.

"The series of consultation meetings has also been extremely useful. We held more than 55 meetings with businesses, community organisations and peak bodies, and these gave us a good insight into the types of ideas and views the community had about what Canberra should be like in 20 years." Mr Quinlan concluded.

Statement ends June 5 2003

Medical indemnity fund

(Question No 891)

Mr Smyth asked the Treasurer, upon notice: