Page 465 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 2018
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International student enrolments have been solid and the ACT government now estimates university and vocation education students contribute around AUD750m to the economy annually. That is equivalent to around 4% of total consumption.
On the question of the labour market, they said that participation was very high. It is not at an all-time record, but 72.9 per cent in trend terms represents a high level of participation. They said:
The unemployment rate has therefore remained broadly steady … over the last year even though employment growth was a solid 4.8% y/y—
year on year—
in trend terms. Job vacancies suggest solid employment growth is ahead.
In relation to investment, they said:
Public infrastructure has been dominated by the light rail project, law courts upgrade, health and public housing. Underlying public investment rose to a record high in the year to September 2017 … Dwelling investment has also grown strongly and … Canberra house prices did not rise as quickly as Sydney and Melbourne over the last three years.
They said:
We expect moderate growth to continue in 2018, helped by a solid labour market and population growth, especially due to overseas immigrants.
So, overall, there is a very positive picture of the territory economy in the latest data.
Mr Pettersson’s motion goes to the detail of other significant improvements in the territory’s economic position. I want to particularly focus on the strength of the labour market and the 10,000 new jobs that were created in 2017, the vast majority of those full time and the overwhelming majority of those in the private sector. The jobs have been created in a broad range of industries: in education and training; retail trade, IT and media, health care; construction, and the energy sector. This means that there are more good opportunities for Canberrans from all backgrounds, not just office workers. This is encouraging. The point I would make on the diversity of the ACT economy is that although the commonwealth share of state final demand has been decreasing, there are many measures of diversity, and what is happening outside the commonwealth sector of our economy is exciting to see.
I will take a few moments in my comments to respond to Ms Le Couteur’s remarks on the defence sector and the ACT government’s objectives. The ACT government recognises that a strong defence sector in the Canberra region has many benefits, including spillovers to other parts of the economy and our broader community. Economic modelling shows that from each billion dollars spent on defence operations in the Canberra region, gross state product will grow by around $1.4 billion and we
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