Page 1088 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 2013
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Having responded to the particular cheeky assertions of the Leader of the Opposition, I take the opportunity now to deal with the detail of Dr Bourke’s motion. We are, indeed, in a transformational time for our city. And what better time to recognise this than in our centenary year? It is important that the government take a leadership role in encouraging the transformation for this occurring in our city and in our economy. One of the key principles on which we are governing and one of the key principles underpinning the city’s transformation is the creation of a strong, diverse and sustainable economy which meets the needs of our community now and into the future.
Our economy is amongst the strongest in Australia, even when compared to the mining boom states and the Northern Territory. We have low unemployment, high participation rates, very strong growth in wages and population and we have a good fiscal position. But to ensure we continue growing into the future the ACT government is acting to ensure our economy and our community are well placed to prosper and meet the challenges of the 21st century. In particular, the emergence of knowledge-based jobs and industries presents a great opportunity for our city. I would like to spend some time this morning focusing on the economic implications of this transformation in our economy and in the workforce, particularly the supportive actions being taken by the government.
A major facet of our vision for Canberra’s economic transformation is encapsulated in the growth, diversification and jobs strategy I released in April of last year. The strategy has three strategic imperatives: creating the right business environment in the territory, supporting business investment and accelerating business innovation. The focus is on creating jobs by building strength in areas where Canberra has demonstrated competitive advantage and distinctiveness and concentrating on the key drivers to accelerate growth and diversification in the territory economy.
Examples of this include investing in the clean economy, boosting our standing as an international tourist and business destination, harnessing our science and research capabilities to grow knowledge-intensive businesses and recognising our world-class educational institutions for the role they play in boosting the territory’s productivity as well as being one of our main export sectors. In doing so, we aim to harness the knowledge to drive innovation and business growth to ensure our business community is collaborative, connected and, importantly, sustainable to make Canberra a preferred location for businesses to operate.
I will take a moment this morning to mention a few examples. Next month I will lead the ACT’s first trade mission for the centenary year with missions to Indonesia and Singapore. The mission is a collaboration with organisations such as Austrade, the ACT Exporters Network, the Australian Indonesian Business Council and a number of local businesses and educational institutions. This mission will be a key step in boosting the ACT’s reputation as a destination for international business and tourism, particularly in these lucrative Asian markets.
In March 2013 we established the Centre for Exporting Government Services to actively prepare and assist ACT companies to engage with governments in overseas
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