Page 2134 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
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and administration staff at Calvary Hospital in my electorate of Ginninderra. The budget also commits funding to bolster ACT Policing’s force with more than 60 new front-line, operational and support roles. Another 36 firefighters will be recruited as well.
We also have a range of health infrastructure projects in the pipeline. In Ginninderra, Calvary Hospital is undergoing major upgrades, including the expansion of the emergency department and two new operating theatres and staff to support these. As the Chief Minister said in yesterday’s budget speech, Canberra’s economic growth has been among the fastest in the country over the past four years. It has supported the creation of more than 3,200 new businesses and more than 16,000 jobs.
We are also focused on the better protection of existing workers: workers like school cleaners, who will be directly employed by the ACT government rather than through contractors, enabling better job security and conditions; workers like construction employees and security staff of companies who tender for ACT government work, thanks to the secure local jobs code, which ensures contracts are awarded only to businesses that meet the highest ethical and labour standards; and workers like our territory public servants.
The ACT government is committed to protecting ACT public sector jobs through appropriate resourcing, fair pay and the promotion of permanent employment. Over the past five years, the sector has grown by an average of two per cent each year. In 2019-20 it is set to expand to more than 22,600 full-time equivalent jobs, an increase of 726 FTE positions year on year.
We continue to diversify our economy by supporting entrepreneurialism and innovation. The $7.6 million committed to the Canberra Innovation Network in this budget is just one example of this. We continue to grow our tourism industry and attract investment in the ACT. We continue to serve as a hub for renewable energy, attracting and creating jobs in this sector as we move closer to our target of being 100 per cent renewable by 2020. And we continue to advocate for the Australian public service in its home, fiercely and passionately.
I will continue to sound like a broken record until the situation changes. I will continue to stand up in this chamber and defend our federal public servants. I have said it before and I will say it again: they are not pawns; they are people. They are people who serve our country through hard work; people who bring a wealth of experience, knowledge, and connections to their respective departments and agencies; people who call Canberra home.
I will continue to stand up in this chamber and advocate for all Canberra workers. This government is passionate about protecting Canberra jobs. This government is passionate about creating Canberra jobs. And we are getting on with the job. It is good for our economy and it is good for all of us who live and work in the ACT. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
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