Page 1098 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 6 May 2014
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MR BARR: I thank Dr Bourke for the question and for the interest in jobs growth in the territory. I can advise the Assembly—I am sure those opposite will be joining me in celebrating this fact—that the territory has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. At 3.4 per cent our unemployment rate is the lowest of all jurisdictions, including the resource-rich ones. The jobless rate in the ACT is 0.4 percentage points lower than the Northern Territory’s, 1.9 percentage points lower than Western Australia and a full 2.7 percentage points lower than Queensland. Our participation rate at 71.4 per cent is well above the national average of 65 per cent and is second only to the Northern Territory. Furthermore, the size of the ACT labour force continues to grow with more than 215,000 currently employed. I believe this is an all-time record level of employment in the Australian Capital Territory.
What I am most pleased about is that in the last decade nearly 36,000 new jobs have been added in the ACT economy—nearly 10 new jobs created every day in Canberra for 10 years. More than 6,000 of these new jobs have been created in the education, science and technology and ICT sectors, which now employ more than 43,000 people. So these sectors are ones in which the territory has a larger share of jobs than our share of the national population. A higher percentage of people are working in those particular sectors than our share of the national population.
We also have a strong and growing tourism sector where, again, the ACT has an above average share of national jobs in that sector. Employment in this sector is growing faster than the national rate. Over the last decade 3,000 new jobs have been created in the accommodation and food sectors. With an average annual growth rate of 2.3 per cent, this sector is growing at more than twice the national rate and now directly employs nearly 15,000 people in the territory.
The strength and robustness of our labour market has been seen in our city becoming a regional hub for business and employment. In 2011 more than 20,000 people a day were coming into the ACT from the surrounding region for regular employment. This includes more than 13,000 people from Queanbeyan, 8,000 from our immediate neighbours in the Yass, Palerang and Cooma Monaro shires and nearly 1,250 from further afield in Goulburn and the Upper Lachlan.
The strength of the territory’s job market has not come about by chance or accident; instead, it is the result of a dynamic and highly skilled business community intersecting with deliberate and concerted government policies designed to create the right business environment to accelerate innovation and to support business investment. This outcome is 10 jobs a day every day for 10 years. It is a significant effort of achievement for this economy and something we should be celebrating.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Dr Bourke.
DR BOURKE: Treasurer, what specific programs is the government implementing to boost jobs growth.
MR BARR: We have established a dedicated investment facilitation team, Invest Canberra, to attract and facilitate private investment in our key industry sectors. We
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