Page 3792 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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Labor’s investments in education and Canberra jobs are supported by every clear-thinking person inside and outside of this place. We are also working to bring certainty to ACT businesses. As most members would be aware, business requires certainty in order to grow and create jobs. That is why we have a 10-year infrastructure plan. That is why we work with the federal Labor government to secure investment in the territory.
On this front I am sure all members would join me in commending Chief Minister Katy Gallagher on securing commonwealth funding for the Majura parkway. As the Chief Minister remarked, in 2010 the Majura parkway was still on the wish list. Now, because we have worked constructively with the federal government, we have joint funding of $288 million ready to upgrade this important territory asset.
Madam Assistant Speaker, as you know, this is a major arterial road for Canberra. Its construction will create and support hundreds, if not thousands, of Canberra jobs both directly and indirectly. By ensuring the smoother and safer passage of people and goods, it will play an important role in securing the strength of the ACT economy. Might I add that it will also save money in terms of accidents currently occurring on that road.
The ACT government too will continue to invest in projects which secure our local economy and support local jobs. An example is our proposal for a government office block, which we have just been discussing. The Master Builders Association of the ACT, which supports the project, calculates that major projects in the ACT generate up to seven jobs for every $1 million invested. The estimated cost of $281 million will support about 2,000 jobs for Canberrans over the life of the project.
Following the success of BER as a training program, the ACT government has committed that a minimum of 10 per cent of workers on the project will be apprentices, trainees and young Indigenous Canberrans. This means that the proposed ACT government office block will help around 200 young Canberrans complete their skills training on a unique, environmentally friendly project, as Mr Barr alluded to previously.
This building will feature the very latest in low energy emissions, design and technology. As such, the project will provide a rare opportunity for Canberrans to learn the skills they will need to build the sustainable buildings required in the lower carbon economy of the future. The office block, combined with the ACT government’s plan to rejuvenate Northbourne Avenue, will help to make light rail more feasible and help create jobs for thousands of Canberrans on projects which deliver low emission transport and low emission buildings.
Our ongoing record investment in infrastructure is an important part of this Labor government’s 10-year infrastructure plan—an important part of building the project pipeline. Our policies will not only deliver great facilities for Canberrans but also give ACT businesses the certainty to invest and create jobs in the ACT. This is extremely important, of course, especially in the current financial environment.
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