Page 3056 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 16 September 2015
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bringing IKEA to Canberra. He carps about Canberra’s successes in the Chief Economist’s report by talking Canberra down, talking our town down, with nothing positive to say.
Let me just reiterate those successes—because I think they tell such a great story and they are worth repeating again—from the Chief Economist’s report. We have the second highest business survival rate in the country, the highest number of business entries per capita, the highest number of trade mark applications per capita, the highest number of patent applications per capita and the highest rate of research and development expenditure per capita in business. We are the highest performing jurisdiction for innovation and entrepreneurship, and Mr Smyth wants to talk us down.
I am proud that as Belconnen nears its 50th birthday we can witness the great work over time to build a dynamic business environment here. It is especially true that business development and new infrastructure have taken off in Belconnen over the last 10 years. We have seen the investments in new residential accommodation there and the growth of the University of Canberra, Calvary hospital and the Bruce CIT campus. As noted earlier, I am especially proud of the high tech CIT Bruce campus in my electorate, which is well placed, thanks to the vision of this government, to be at the centre of training and innovation in the renewable energy industry.
We are bringing the industry and research sectors together in Canberra in a renewable energy precinct focusing on solar, wind energy and energy storage. This government’s renewable energy industry development strategy will harness the existing programs and expertise in Canberra. It also looks to the development of the new generations of renewable energy technologies. We are on the way to creating Canberra as a centre of excellence in the renewable energy industries with the spin-offs of investment and jobs in those clever industries in our clever capital. Our city’s well-educated population and the quality of our schools and post-secondary education, including CIT, the ANU and the University of Canberra, give us a great springboard to be at the centre of emerging innovations in the renewable sector and future industries.
CIT Bruce is well placed to be at the centre of vocational education in these new industries, in renewable energy, as a centre of excellence, servicing the training needs of the operators of the ACT wind farm projects and others, including potential links with Taiwan, which I talked about yesterday. CIT Bruce already has courses and facilities dedicated to training in these sustainable technologies. The aim of the CIT Bruce sustainable skills training hub building was to have a very energy efficient and ecologically sustainable building with most of the structure and technology visible for training. You can actually see it when you go in there. Most of the building plant is available for hands-on training so you can learn within the actual building itself.
We are implementing the confident & business ready strategy, and the ACT government continues to work to ensure Canberra’s business environment remains competitive and attractive for future investment in this great city. Of course, we already have city to the lake in Belconnen creating a great opportunity for business to take advantage of the beauty of that area to provide lakeside dining and interactions with the environment. A great environment encourages other businesses to set up in the Belconnen CBD, as opposed perhaps to Civic. The revamping of the public
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