Page 687 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
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I hope it does, but that does not stop us having a large private sector as well. She said:
It is unclear, when there are calls made for a more diverse economy, what it means for a capital city like Canberra.
What is the final line? Ms Gallagher was asked what her vision was. She said, “As leader I am too busy to have vision.” You have to have vision. It is part of leadership. You have to have somewhere you want to go to.
It is interesting that in December 2011, in a report called Business bearing the burden: the size and impact of state government business taxes, the IPA said that the ACT needs to ensure sustained economic growth. It said:
… in the longer term the ACT needs to develop a critical mass of private sector industries, which would in turn drive business investment and employment growth.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (8.10): It is an important time for us to debate the strength and future of our economy. We are all very aware of the global economic circumstances, and history has shown us that whilst it is possible for us to escape the worst of global events we are nevertheless susceptible to the global economic reality.
There can be no doubt that by almost any measure the Australian economy is doing very well compared to the rest of the OECD and that the ACT economy is doing very well compared to other Australian jurisdictions. Unemployment is low. In December 2011 it was 1.5 per cent lower than the national figure. Canberrans earn an average $200 a week more than the national average. That said, there of course remains much work to be done, and many reforms are necessary to ensure our continued economic prosperity.
Today’s debate is a good opportunity for us to reflect on the make-up of our economy and the issues and challenges before us and to put on the record our respective policies for addressing those issues and challenges.
There are a number of parts to the motion and I will attempt to go through them one at a time. The first point is about the importance of confidence in the economy. I do not think anyone underestimates the importance of confidence in maintaining a strong economy. One only has to look at the equity markets responding to the news every day to see how much the economy depends on prevailing market sentiment and how the level of confidence in the economy impacts on investment decisions—decisions which of course translate to jobs.
As I said earlier, we do have a healthy economy, and there are few if any indicators to suggest otherwise. We do have a highly skilled, well-educated and innovative workforce. This is something I will return to later and something that the Greens believe we should focus on.
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