Page 1961 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 June 2015
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Professor Ian Young, the Vice-Chancellor of the ANU, said:
I welcome the strategy because it recognises the important role of Canberra’s higher education and research sector as a driver of economic growth and diversification.
Our renewed business development strategy provides us with a strong platform to continue the growth and diversification of Canberra’s economy, in partnership with the business community and the higher education sector in particular.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Fitzharris.
MS FITZHARRIS: Minister, how will the renewed business development strategy continue to generate jobs in innovation, research and education?
MR BARR: As part of the first phase of the business development strategy, we established the CBR Innovation Network, in partnership with the research sector, the Canberra business community and the territory government.
The network has established premises in Civic. It has co-located the Entry 29 co-working space and the Griffin accelerator. It is establishing a state-of-the-art high growth business incubator. This network is leading the nation in driving innovation, thanks in large part to its founding members, the ANU, the University of Canberra, NICTA, the CSIRO and the University of New South Wales Canberra. I thank them for their ongoing commitment to this initiative.
Through our renewed business development strategy, we are working in partnership with the innovation network to boost our city’s entrepreneurial capability and capacity. We are creating pathways to support start-ups and innovative companies to grow and to access national and international markets and supply chains.
We will also use this opportunity to promote Canberra as Australia’s higher education and research capital and work with internationally renowned higher education and research institutions to develop key new capability areas. This includes developments in areas such as the space industry, agriculture and environmental science, sports technology, health innovation, cybersecurity and ICT, and e-government.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Smyth.
MR SMYTH: Minister, how does assisting IKEA and Costco to come to Canberra help innovative businesses prosper in Canberra?
MR BARR: They bring new businesses practices and models to this city, models that are globally successful. They are major anchors and they draw in consumers, not just from this city but from the broader region. These major companies have demonstrated in many cities around the world their capacity not only to innovate within local marketplaces but to bring new, innovative business practices to areas that they locate in. They are significant magnets for surrounding regions, and there is no doubt that in seeking to attract new investment the location of these major multinational companies in this city is important.
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