Page 1480 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 2012
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Canberra firms have a competitive edge in being able to work closely with major Australian and multinational companies and public and private research arms in servicing the needs of the Australian government. This government is playing its part in ensuring that we build on our knowledge base, positioning us as providers of solutions to the technology questions of tomorrow.
Recently the ACT government entered into a new four-year $12 million funding package for NICTA, commencing on 1 July this year. This is a direct investment in the ACT’s economic future which builds on and extends the ACT government’s previous support for NICTA. NICTA’s Canberra staff, 55 full-time researchers and 50 PhD students, is working with our universities, government agencies and Canberra-based businesses to develop the technologies that will meet the current and future needs of the ACT as well as the nation.
We are excited about the potential that some of NICTA’s research has to directly benefit the people of Canberra. We are proud of Canberra’s ICT sector and we recognise that it is a key element of our clever, innovative and creative city.
Mr Speaker, this government is always looking to the future. A key priority for this government is to support private sector development that leads to a more diversified local economy. That commitment is coming together in the form of a new business development strategy shortly to be released towards the end of April 2012. Strengthening Canberra’s revenue base to deliver infrastructure and services to a growing and ageing community is important.
We also need to do this so our economy is more capable of absorbing the negative impact of volatile movements in commonwealth government spending and to lessen our exposure to land and construction-related economic activity. Our current approach is based on sound strategy and tested approaches developed through the 2003 economic white paper, the 2008 innovation system audit of the ACT and the 2008 paper “Capital development—towards our second century”.
This is a solid foundation and we will continue to do those things that are working well, such as focusing on innovation strategy, supporting a commercialisation pathway and supporting ACT firms to export. Recognising the vital role of small business in our economy, we remain committed to strong fiscal management and ensuring a business-friendly environment. Our economic base lies in the service, research and knowledge industries. The task at hand is to build on these foundations and focus our efforts where there is competitive advantage, critical mass and ability to leverage industry partnerships.
The business development strategy will facilitate growth, diversification and new job opportunities in the economy in areas where we have critical mass and emerging capability, such as education services, specialist services to government, digital enterprise, clean technology and creative sectors. This is not just the realm of quick returns. We will not be implementing schemes to attract big business nor developing detailed sector plans across the board. But the fact remains that our existing business program environment, which is non-sector aligned, is well conceived and working extremely well.
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