Page 19 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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continue to have the lowest rates of unemployment anywhere in Australia. This success did not happen by accident, and we must continue to diversify our economy and support more job creation for Canberrans from all backgrounds.
Over the coming year, the ACT government will continue to engage in a range of discussions with community stakeholders about the opportunities posed by emerging industries. We will begin community consultations to refine the government’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander procurement policy. We will also continue discussions with the University of New South Wales about establishing a new UNSW Canberra city campus. Education is a vital part of the territory’s economy, and the establishment of a new UNSW Canberra city campus could see thousands of new students coming to Canberra to study.
To maintain our strong economy and create new growth opportunities, Canberra must also connect with opportunities beyond our city’s borders. This is why we will continue to strengthen our connections in the Canberra region government to council and business to business, and strengthen our transport connections by road and by rail.
We are also working to link Canberra with other cities in Australia and around the world that can grow and diversify our economy. We will continue to better connect Canberra by working to attract more direct flights from Canberra Airport. We are particularly focusing on international connections to China, New Zealand and the United States via New Zealand, and domestically to Hobart, and the attraction of low cost carriers to Canberra. This will benefit the community as a whole by generating more business for local companies, producers and creators, and give more opportunities to expand and grow into new markets.
Madam Speaker, in addition to the great initiatives we have planned or those that are well underway, we will continue to utilise this place, the Legislative Assembly, as the vehicle to drive important reforms for Canberra.
In forthcoming sitting weeks, I will introduce legislation to reform the ACT’s compulsory third-party insurance scheme. At present, the scheme does not cover everyone injured in a motor vehicle accident, something that comes as a surprise to many Canberrans. Payouts can take more than two years, and Canberrans still pay among the highest premiums in the country. The government’s changes will deliver a fairer accident insurance scheme—a no-fault scheme, Madam Speaker—that will better protect all Canberrans on our roads.
We will implement more recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by amending legislation to enhance the operation of our working with vulnerable people scheme, and further legislative reforms to ensure that the confessional seal cannot be used as a shield to protect perpetrators of sexual violence against children.
Minister Ramsay will continue his exceptional efforts to limit the harm caused by problem gambling by reducing—significantly reducing—the number of electronic gaming machines in the ACT. The voluntary surrender scheme developed by the
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