Page 2746 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 June 2010
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our economy in this way is, of course, a key way to move our economy away from our current heavy dependence on land releases and sales.
We know that land sales revenue is selling our capital and we only have a limited quantity of land for sale. Now is the time to start making other plans for our budget. A zero emissions future may sound scary to some people, but it is also an opportunity. It is an opportunity to identify the things that the ACT does well, apart from selling land for residential use.
I am referring to things like the knowledge economy so that we can maximise our business and economic opportunities. I note here the estimates committee recommendation:
… further work be undertaken into the economic opportunities and prospects and appropriate strategic direction for the ACT economy to achieve zero net emissions by 2050 and annual updates be provided as a separate chapter in each budget paper.
I support this recommendation and the need for a green economy strategy paper with action plans and a guide to ensure that fiscal policy directions not only reduce emissions in the short term but also actively position us to withstand economic changes that will occur as a result of climate change.
I believe the key part of this is the development of a climate change impact analysis tool which I understand is in development. I look forward to hearing more about it in the very near future. What I would also like to see is our ACT-based businesses which fit into a sustainable economy plan get sufficient support in the start-up and establishment phase.
There is no point in giving contracts and tenders to businesses to fulfil key roles in our cities if we do not nurture them by giving them the right support at the right time to ensure they do not go bust immediately and then leave the government in the situation where it again has to find a business to fulfil that particular role. I am concerned to note particularly that in the waste management industry there seems to be the possibility that this is occurring once again.
In summary, I am very pleased to see that there will be some moves towards better triple-bottom-line accounting, but I am concerned that we need to do a lot more in terms of arts venues and a clean and green economy.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (4.15): It was interesting to get to the Chief Minister’s portfolio in the estimates, because one was able to ask the Chief Minister about his litany of dealings with the federal government. Yet again, we found out that the money we were promised for the Beijing torch relay is now a dead rubber—we are not getting that money from his Labor colleagues; that the money we are owed for the car park up at Defence has not been forthcoming; that there is no money for Constitution Avenue; that there is no money for the Majura parkway, even though apparently, according to Wayne Swan, this roads money will go to every corner of the land; and, indeed, that there is still no money for the centenary of Canberra, which is coming very closely.
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