Page 1301 - Week 04 - Thursday, 8 May 2014
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activity which has previously not occurred within our borders. The development also provides an opportunity for future light industrial development in this area.
The store represents a significant economic and employment opportunity for Canberrans. It also signals from IKEA, as an international investor, a very strong demonstration of confidence in the territory’s economy, in particular given that IKEA stores are generally only located within cities with a population much greater than the ACT’s.
I acknowledge that the government, and in particular the Economic Development Directorate and the senior staff there, have worked very hard to ensure a smooth process to bring IKEA to Canberra. The Deputy Chief Minister and I originally met with IKEA probably 18 months ago, at the very beginning of those discussions, and it is fantastic to see that those discussions have led to this announcement today. It means there will be 250 local jobs once the store becomes operational, but obviously there will be several hundred jobs created during the construction phase.
It was also great to hear from the Australian manager of IKEA, David Hood, today that they are putting significant investment into solar energy production on the roof of the store. They take their responsibilities seriously in terms of the environment and minimising risks to local communities by looking at how they can have a more sustainable footprint. He was very positive about the solar energy generation that will occur from that site.
It is going to be a fantastic result. He assured us it will have a full-service restaurant. So for anyone who wants those Swedish meatballs, they will be available. The Swedish ambassador, who is due to leave our city after six years of service here, also spoke at the event at lunchtime. We could probably say he is an honorary Canberran now. I urged him to come back and visit Canberra in his retirement and shop locally at our local IKEA store.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Dr Bourke.
DR BOURKE: Chief Minister, what does IKEA’s decision mean in terms of the company’s confidence in the ACT’s economy into the future and business confidence as we face commonwealth government cuts?
MS GALLAGHER: I thank Dr Bourke for the question. It is relevant today, and indeed has been in the last few months, when I think there has been speculation around confidence in investing in the ACT. What we are seeing is that IKEA have done as they would always do as an international company of this order—do their paperwork and look at the data very closely before making a decision, particularly as it involves bringing a store to a population well below their normal threshold for having a store open.
So they do see the long-term confidence in the economy here and the opportunities that are presented by being part of a regional retail precinct. They are very positive about the opportunities that exist out at Majura and being close to the Majura parkway. I think their investment has come at exactly the right time for us as a city. Instead of
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