Page 2271 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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has failed, according to Mr Smyth, in recent years. That, of course, is far from the truth. As the government for the past six years we certainly have provided an environment in which business in this particular economy could flourish.
Could I just go through some of the indicators that reveal the extent to which the ACT is experiencing a period of sustained economic growth and prosperity. While the standard of living in the territory has been historically higher than that of the Australian community, the past few years—indeed, the past five years—have seen an unprecedented burst of economic activity that has altered the skyline—not the past 10 years, the past five to six years. The five years before that were not so bright. In the past few years there has been an unprecedented burst of economic activity that has altered the skyline, increased the ACT’s population and given the people of Canberra far greater consumer choices.
There is clear evidence to support the claims of the strength of the ACT economy. Of course, as all members would know, one of the best overall measures is state final demand, which describes the level of spending in the economy. It is currently growing, as every member in here would know, at an annual rate of 6.2 per cent, above the long-run average of 4.4 per cent. To March 2007, ACT demand grew faster than the national rate of 4.1 per cent and the New South Wales rate of 2 per cent. The rate in the ACT is 6.2 per cent of state final demand. The rate in New South Wales is two per cent and the national rate, 4.1 per cent. So, it is two per cent higher than the national rate.
Interestingly, to illustrate the progress we have made—and this is relevant in the context of the performance of the Liberal Party in government, in the first five years of Howard, at the time that Labor came to power in the territory, in 2001, annual demand in the territory was growing at 0.3 per cent. Since we came to government, in the past six years, state final demand has grown by 36 per cent, from a base, when we took over from the Liberal party, of 0.3 per cent, outstripping national demand growth of 31 per cent and New South Wales demand growth of 21 per cent.
Of course, you cannot say that the source of this demand is confined to one segment of the economy. Certainly the commonwealth has been relevant to that. Contribution to the growth has come from consumption spending by households, consumption spending by the commonwealth government and private investment spending in non-dwelling construction. Growth in certain areas of the economy is also having a flow-on impact to other areas of the ACT economy. Growing ACT incomes and good employment prospects are stimulating consumption spending, leading to the influx of new retailers, the construction of new shopping complexes and the redevelopment of existing shopping complexes in the territory.
The government has helped to provide this economic environment which is conducive to rising living standards. Since 2001, when Labor came to power, and this is relevant too, gross disposable income per capita in the ACT has risen by 34 per cent—since we came to government—from $33,887 to $45,382 which, of course, far exceeds the national story, where incomes have grown by only 23 per cent to $29,257 and in New South Wales where incomes have grown by only 17 per cent to $25,782.
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