Page 1444 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 14 May 2014
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We do still get lots of employment from the federal government, and that is a good thing. I am sure everyone in this place hopes that it continues. But until we address the overwhelming dependence on the federal government, this city will suffer under federal governments—and, let us face it, both sides have done it. Rudd’s 14½ thousand jobs is perhaps the highest number directly attributed to a single government. While we have an almost total dependence on the federal government, this will continue.
When Kate Carnell came to office in 1995 it was 60 per cent public service. When we left office in 2001 it was 40 per cent public service. I know a lot of the private sector jobs still depended on the government, but that was a genuine attempt to wean the ACT economy off a total dependence on one industry. And the work, I think, stopped then.
We have seen a decline. Yes, the population has grown; yes, employment has grown. But still 50 per cent of employment in the ACT is public sector and approximately 50 per cent is the private sector, which I think still means that we are dependent on government spending, whether it be federal or ACT government. And we are going to continue to have boom and bust cycles if we do not steer our own course. We need to do that. For years I have said that we need to diversify the economy, and for years I have said we should build appropriate business infrastructure like the convention centre.
We are grateful for the federal spend. We are grateful for places like the ANU, for the CSIRO, for the national cultural attractions, which benefit us greatly. But there must be a time when this territory steers its own course. Unfortunately, that time has probably been forced on us now.
We note in paragraph (e) that, yes, the ACT government has outlined plans for a number of high profile infrastructure projects but it has failed to deliver on any of them. I think there is an overwhelming community sentiment out there of, “Just get on with it.” Indeed, the Chief Minister, in her own introduction to the capital plan released earlier this year, said:
One of the strongest messages we heard was ‘just get on with it’.
She went on to say that “people want to see change”. That is right. I think they actually do. I think there is growth in the community—it is certainly not in the government—in the notion that Canberra can stand on its own and that we have lots to offer.
I have mentioned here before Fivefold, a firm of five young ladies who have set up a jewellery shop at the Braddon traders. They are former graduates of our School of Arts who have decided to stay in Canberra because they think it has something special to offer, rather than, like most of their peers, going to Sydney or Melbourne. I have used the words “hip and homespun”. We must be relevant and we must be local. That is what changes, and I do not see that in all the things that this government has done.
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