Page 3688 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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$1.65 million was slashed from 7.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent in the last budget. We have already seen a significant boost in international and interstate investment in the territory.
We will continue to pursue that through InvestACT, which has been established to promote business and investment opportunities in the Canberra region, particularly to international investors, but also nationally. This will help encourage firms to set up and expand their operations in the city, thereby boosting our employment and skills base.
We have also commenced a series of structural reforms outlined in the 2013-14 territory budget to make our government operations more efficient. These reforms will continue and we will focus on ensuring that our public service is cost effective and provides value for money for territory taxpayers. This will ensure that the government has funds available to continue to invest in priority projects and to continue to deliver the highest quality services in the country. To this end, we have established a new capital framework and we have begun some detailed work on public-private partnerships in the territory.
The government has this year delivered the biggest program of sporting events in our territory’s history. We have hosted the Australian cricket team, the Australian rugby league team, the Australian netball team and our first trans-Tasman netball test. We have held the women’s Australian open golf tournament. We saw the Brumbies triumph over the British and Irish Lions. That was one of the few highlights for Australian teams during that tour. We have also hosted the Boomers and the Opals, our men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Under the new lights at Manuka Oval—a significant achievement for the city, opening up a whole range of opportunities for cricket and AFL—we saw the Australian cricket team play in Canberra for the first time in one of the best matches of the summer against the West Indies. Not only has this been a feast for local sports fans, but it has proved our city’s capacity to host high profile sporting events. I think this puts us in a great position as we move forward. We look forward to hosting the Asian Cup in 2015, closely followed by matches in the Cricket World Cup, two of the biggest events for their respective sports.
Madam Deputy Speaker, another clear benefit and delivery in this 12 months is that for the first time in decades Canberra motorists now have a choice in their compulsory third-party insurance. It is already saving residents money and the government’s commitment to CTP scheme reform continues. Certainly, the reforms we have delivered to date have provided the opportunity for new players to enter our market.
We are laying the foundations for future growth and prosperity. The city to the lake project is one of the more important ones that I will be working on but I also acknowledge the important social reforms in Gonski school funding and NDIS that are considerable and important financial commitments from the territory government. (Time expired.)
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