Page 2495 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 9 August 2016
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Across a group as broad and as large as small business our approach is necessarily broad based. We know the small business community want a growing economy and a vision for the city. They want a fair and sensible regulatory system. They want services and information from government that are easy to access. They want the ACT government to look at their capability to support goods and services and they want a cost competitive environment.
Across all these areas the government is delivering a growing economy. The latest state final demand figures place the ACT as Australia’s fastest growing economy with an increase of 1.3 per cent in the March 2016 quarter. Red tape is being reduced in a systematic and ongoing manner through legislative reform. Access Canberra is transforming the way we interact and deliver services to the community, including the small business services within it. We continue to progress reform of government procurement to support small business, including a margin of preference for ACT and regional SMEs, the introduction of the small business innovation partnership program and the employment of a local industry advocate.
Specifically in this budget small business will benefit from: $0.3 million per annum for two years to ensure the continued successful operation of the CBR Innovation Network, our hothouse of new enterprise creation; $0.1 million in 2016-17 to continue promotion of the CBR brand; and $0.75 million in 2016-17 to support the development of Canberra’s key capability areas, including cyber security, space and spatial economy, sports technology, health innovation, ICT and e-government which, over time, will provide exciting new areas of growth and wealth creation in the economy.
There is also a range of other programs delivered by innovate Canberra that have a very strong small business focus, including the innovation connect grants program aimed at helping Canberra-based businesses to develop innovative products and services; the trade connect grants program designed to help Canberra-based businesses with a range of export market develop activities; the four targeted programs—CBIRN, CollabIT, Screen ACT and Data 61—to support development in key industry capability in the ACT innovation ecosystem; Indigenous enterprise activities; and development of the ACT component of the federal government’s business online services project.
Small business plays a vital role in supporting the ACT’s growth and diversification. This budget reflects the ACT government’s commitment to helping these businesses achieve success.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (4.03): I want to make a few brief remarks, and I will start with talking about Access Canberra and the EPA, most specifically some questions that I asked in the estimates committee hearings about the EPA’s investigation and analysis of the reported ambient odour issues in some Tuggeranong suburbs. I asked whether there were sufficient resources in the EPA, because I have spoken in this place many times about the reported foul smell in some areas of Tuggeranong on some occasions and I have received many complaints from residents, as recently as this morning.
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