 Thank you very much Michael for your introduction and for sponsoring the lunch and for the three million dollars Very gratefully received. It doesn't sound like enough really, but Get it Andrew to chase that up after lunch I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet this afternoon the Ngunnawal people and I extend my respects to their elders past and present and also acknowledge the ongoing contribution they make to the life of our city and our region Professor Michael freighter Andrew Barr deputy chief minister Brennan Smith Michelle Melvin Chris folks business council members distinguished guests Thank you very much for the opportunity to address you today and share with you the ACT Government's outlook on the territory. It's such an important time for our city and our economy I'll take some time to reflect on the current state of play as we move towards a crucial few months Before I speak in detail about key priorities for the ACT government I'll also be announcing today two important initiatives as part of our plans to focus on Canberra's strengths and Continue to improve livability in our city and diversification across the economy As you would expect my team and I have planned for various scenarios from the much anticipated federal budget and Prepared ourselves to act where intervention is warranted But the point I'd like to make clear today is that we won't be hitting the panic button the ACT government's long-term commitments to economic reform and fairness across the community will continue There are some very exciting initiatives taking shape which reflect this fact and Demonstrate that we are already seeing the emergence of a stronger more diverse economy As I speak about these and the government's commitment to stay the course on our own commitments I hope you here at the very least an echo of your own ambitions for the future of our city Today marks exactly two months to the handing down of the next federal budget and possibly less time To the release of the government's commission of audit Obviously the ACT government awaits both documents with interest and I expect that each of you are doing the same It would be very easy to join the voices of doom and gloom and the associated speculation that comes with that But instead I think we should deal with the facts that we know and then focus on the vision and the Opportunities that will present themselves over the next few years So to some facts it's six months since the federal election and the start of a series of cuts to Commonwealth agencies It's two years since the federal spending contraction began in earnest and it's six years since the global financial crisis First sent tremors through our economy Throughout this period the fundamentals of the ACT economy have remained strong Forecast economic growth for 2013-14 is unchanged from last June at 1.75 percent Retailed trade figures are positive with growth of 3.4 percent in the year to January 2014 Population growth remains steady and Employment growth in our economy is slow, but steady The combined efforts of public and private sectors have driven growth in investment Exports and jobs and shown an economic resilience, which not everyone thought we had The fact that unemployment remains at 3.8 percent the lowest in the country is helping keep other Economic vitals such as housing and retail activity in shape Just as importantly is maintaining levels of confidence and cohesiveness in our community stimulus and job creation Protecting the livelihoods of working can variance remains a core priority of our government through 2014 The question becomes what is the best way for the territory government to support local jobs? Pumping vast amount of money direct into the economy is neither within our means or our economic philosophy We've worked hard to earn our economic credentials a strong budget position and a triple-a credit rating And we use these advantages strategically We've created capacity for government to invest in productive infrastructure Which attracts private sector buy-in and delivers a long-term dividend to our economy The 480 million dollar Canberra Airport project is a great example It drew a high level of private investment. It's helped create an attractive commercial precinct It delivers major capability boost for tourism across the capital region The infrastructure is ready for direct international flights and it directly connects to the Majura Parkway Which itself is estimated to deliver a one billion dollar dividend in the long term We've also been able to act to pump prime the vital construction sector through the stimulus package announced last week This package was a direct response to the advocacy of our local industry groups for changes in particular around lease variation and extension of time charges The package also offers a boost for housing affordability through the accelerated development in Moncreef And we want to see industry continue to innovate in the construction of quality affordable housing The government's land release program now includes a pipeline of more than five hundred million dollars in Landscape and civil works across the Greenfield and infill estates in the ACT Now as the government painstakingly frames the 2014-15 budget bid by bid line by line We're maintaining the strict discipline and budget strategy these times demand The snapshot I've provided before sums up why we're better prepared for the coming challenges as a government as a business community and Across the economy and certainly better than we've been in the past But it's vital that government maintains a level perspective the ACT budget as 9% of our economy can respond to federal belt tightening but not to savage austerity Our exposure is easy to see the Commonwealth ACT workforce is three times the size of our own and we cannot absorb large redundancies Our GST revenue continues to decline relative to the services It's supposed to pay for and further cuts to that will hurt Direct funding for vital reforms and community services if cut would undermine hard one gains for our schools and for some of our most vulnerable citizens For our part we're resolute in delivering on promises that we've made to our community Including our commitments under national reforms our frontline health workforce and health infrastructure will grow our Disability sector will be supported to transition to NDIS Our school resourcing will increase with all schools across Canberra resource to the Gonski resourcing standard And we will continue the delivery of our ambitious plan to stop rising obesity rates I led a delegation of key business representatives to meet with the assistant infrastructure and regional development minister Jamie Briggs last month Minister Briggs is aware that our employment and growth are our top priorities And it's important that government and business remain united on this front Our early discussions have been very productive and he's shown encouraging interest in working with us to progress plans for the widely supported convention facilities We will continue regular meetings with minister Briggs and have agreed to meet again once the federal budget is handed down in May While I put great value on a good working relationship with the federal government I think in this room. It's important to acknowledge that there's a limit to what support we can expect to receive That's why we aren't waiting around for bad news to come to us We acted early on economic stimulus and we're pressing ahead with perhaps the most ambitious tax reform agenda in Australia Too often this reform program is dumbed down in a tabloid discussion about rates But I believe there is broad support across our business community We are already heading towards a 9% improvement in the efficiency of our tax base by 2016-17 in other words This means a yield of 57 million dollars for our economy which is no longer absorbed by administration and compliance Sales activity in the commercial sector has increased following the decision to drop commercial conveyance duty to 5.5% for properties valued at 1.65 million or greater now amongst the lowest rates in the country and Our support for small business through the reduction of payroll tax is also delivering important support both to individual businesses and To the government's drive for diversification Australia's experience has shown that early movers on economic reform reap the rewards and whilst we may be the smallest government in Australia We don't lack ideas nor courage nor the willingness to cast aside Misperceptions of others and lead the way on big changes which will have long-term payoffs for our community It is our fundamental belief in the potential of the ACT and broader regional economies which drives our ambitious agenda But a great economy demands a great beating heart, which is why I'm pleased today to release the The final version of the city plan which has been released publicly in its draft form before Which really shows a step forward in the transformation of Canberra's city centre and you'll find that on your tables They've used of 15,000 canberrans have been combined with the work of expert planners to set the direction for what will be a transformation in civic People told us they wanted to see greater pedestrian and public transport focus in the city They want less through traffic more appeal and a stronger identity Flattering as it is to hear things like Braden's looking more like Melbourne all the time or even my Sydney friends would like this place We're not here to seek comparisons Canberrans want a city centre which says Canberra and they overwhelmingly and the overwhelming sentiment is they want it sooner rather than later The city plan creates a blueprint for this transformation to happen a framework for extensive residential growth in civic Plans to progress major infrastructure projects and a permanent bridging of the divide between the city and the lake The government will be announcing in the near future the fast-tracking of some of the next stages of the city to Lake Project and I look forward to selling the project in China next month as part of the prime minister and minister for trades Delegation and the deputy chief minister will be doing the same in Singapore and in Hong Kong in June The city plan is there to guide decision-making for the public and private sectors and encourage the next phase of our city centre growth a Process already well underway It will steer the city centre towards the commercial and cultural hub Which both our city and regional communities have said it ought to be Under the plan which was funded by the Commonwealth government the ACT is investing progress to progress key projects Such as the Parkway Split Boulevard conference centre and the redevelopment of the ABC flats Perhaps the defining feature of the city plan is the introduction of light rail as a spine of our future public transport Network and catalyst for an economic resurgence along Northbourne Avenue Let's be clear transport pressures in the civic to gungal and corridor are not a future prediction They're here now with five times the territory's average population growth Combined with car dependency at around 90% This corridor is a major pressure point on the transport system and the economy with projected costs running into the hundreds of millions of dollars Capital Metro is not only a transport building a transport solution It's a city building project a major capital investment which delivers against other key priorities. I'm like laying out today Okay, it's a catalyst for economic growth and development with a major uplift effect across the car along the corridor a Centrepiece of the transformation of the city centre a high quality connection with the new Dixon development announced last week by the Treasurer a driver of commercial growth in the gungal and town centre a More active healthy and affordable transport option for Canberra's a template for the transport system of the future and A project which will pick up some of the spare capacity Created by the completion of other major infrastructure projects And these are the reasons why we choose to invest now with the long-term firmly in our minds The government's capital Metro agency will be far more visible in the city this year as it ramps up its work program of planning and consultation The city plan also reflects broader elements of the government's productivity and public health agenda in our support for active living And if I could just paint this picture and I was hoping you were all going to have sugary dessert But unfortunately it's a healthy option, so I can't use the joke that I plan to say here But as you're about to tuck into dessert, but I'm pleased it is healthy if we again look at some of the facts in Canberra, we have one of the most overweight Metropolitan populations in Australia, which is in turn one of the most overweight countries in the world Despite the highly educated nature of our community and the abundant access to quality food We camberans are well on track for as many of us as 80% of us to be overweight or obese by 2025 now there's a target we don't want to achieve If these trends go unchecked or unchallenged our public health costs will threaten the sustainability of every other part of the budget and Completely undermine the gains. We're working so hard to achieve elsewhere. I Do want to make it clear that our goal, which is simply to stop the growing levels of obesity at the current rate 63% of adults being overweight or obese It's not about nannying people or restricting their fun or individual freedoms It's a call to action similar to the campaigns run over previous decades in relation to smoking a call to action across the government Business and community sectors to be part of the solution on obesity It goes to the very heart of livability and productivity in our city These are assets. We're very proud to lead the way on as attested by the recent my city survey And we need to keep working to improve them Interestingly some developers are already at the forefront of designing facilities which encourage active transport outdoor Recreation and connections to public infrastructure, which do the same A city centre which has reached its potential particularly as the economic heart of the region is also going to support further diversification We believe in the ability of this economy to compete and succeed not only in construction and property development But in other high skilled high wage industries of the future Many of you are familiar with the government's diversification agenda Which is led by the deputy chief minister, which is heavily focused on growing the economy through human capital As with our microeconomic reform this program is yielding results Sustained growth in higher education exports our IT industry maturing and attracting global attention regional tourism continuing to grow Global markets are vindicating our decisions to invest in sectors where our economy has distinct advantages These success stories are all contributing to the headline economic indicators I've mentioned and we want to see them do more Our tertiary institutions are at the heart of our growth as a knowledge-based economy Canberra's place in the global education market and its recognition as a study destination Affirming up and we are very deliberately building on the research base which drives innovation attracts talent Supports business formation and generates growth more than 10,000 international students are spending more than $440 million in our economy each year and the education sector now generates 11% of our tourist activity Our direct links in Asia are strengthening and this is an agenda I will be pushing strongly during my trip to China with the Prime Minister next month Let's remember that world-class education sector is also home our canberra is also home to world-class research Organisations such as the CSIRO, NICTA, Geoscience Australia and the John Curtin School of Medical Research Looked at it in its whole this sector includes 45,000 people in this region and contributes two billion dollars to our economy No other jurisdiction has an education industry so significant to its makeup Which is why the ACT must continue to assert itself as Australia's learning capital On top of direct investments in our institutions We are working at a strategic level to identify the future opportunities in this sector and promote it to the world Most notably through our study Canberra program One of the true signs of innovation is in the commercialization of some of the talent and ideas which are so present in Canberra today The Canberra Business Council is an active partner in helping us to nurture technological innovation and this work is added to by Invest Canberra and the new private sector investment framework Together, let's dispel the idea that a government town can't compete globally at the cutting edge of innovation and digital technology The government's determination to do this is the reason we have developed a strategy to create a truly digital city This strategy is set out in the digital Canberra action plan, which I'm also releasing today Backed by a four point four million dollar investment The plan shows our vision to develop and promote Canberra as a modern dynamic digital city It provides the roadmap of how we're going to accelerate business engagement with the digital economy and help business access new customers and markets And it puts new impetus behind the government's commitment to lead by example Using technology to be a more open government making it easier for people to access our services Innovating in how we engage with the community and cutting red tape for local business In other words, we are a government moving towards digital by default and we are enabling the most tech-savvy community in Australia to do the same Today, I'm pleased to announce that five priority projects to kick off the action plan The role the first one is the roll out of free Wi-Fi in Canberra will start to come online in civic from the second half of this year Free Wi-Fi will then roll out in other town centres and commercial precincts to deliver the benefits of greater connectivity Across the ACT Once complete the Territories Network will be the largest free outdoor public network in Australia While not a service for business directly It will create yet another incentive to be active online and engage with the fast-growing digital media channels The second project will relates to Garema Place and we will see Garema Place become the centre of Digital innovation in Canberra through the creation of a dedicated digital space and digital screen The space will create a new forum for the meeting of creative minds and creative digital ideas in the city It will be a very visible reminder of Canberra's excellence in the digital world and another illustration of contemporary urban development in the heart of the city Connected to the Garema Place digital space We're looking to create a digital and innovation hub as a service centre for digital government and the digital economy This hub would help concentrate the development and incubation of digital ideas Building both the culture and the capability of the sector through practical support to connect innovators with applications in government and industry The third area is digital business capacity building workshops delivered in partnership with the Canberra Business Council and Individual vendors which will respond to research the government carried out last year around the digital capabilities and needs of our business Community we will invest $80,000 to give our business community the practical assistance To make the most of the digital economy and achieve the growth it can help deliver in further support for businesses which choose to upskill grants totaling $225,000 for science technology engineering and mathematics internships will offer the private sector ACT government support in training of their staff Finally the innovation pitch panel, which I know Members of the business council have put to me as an idea over the years will create a forum for local innovations Aimed directly at the ACT government. We know that some of the best ideas come from outside government And we want to make sure there are no barriers to us being early adopters of Local digital innovations, which may save money or improve services to our community As with higher education a globally competitive digital economy in Canberra is no longer just an aspiration Even for businesses one or two levels removed from the IT sector the evidence clearly shows that those with a strong digital presence Are far more likely to be growing and recruiting. I Believe the same lessons applied to government and we will continue to increase our own capabilities Now as I look ahead I see a city with the fundamentals for an exceptional decade If our centenary year was a test of community spirit and culture this year will be a test of economic metal Today I've set out to make it clear that in our mind our economic program is Inseparable from the broader agendas of livability productivity urban renewal and good public health I believe it's our investments and advantages in these areas in precisely these areas Which put us in good stead to respond to economic challenges and overcome them as leaders in this city Meeting this potential is a responsibility. We all share. Thank you very much Thank you very much chief minister and Chief minister has indicated that she's very happy to take some questions from our guests here today So, let's let's do that So the short David, thank you for the question The proposal that's being put to the government to both Andrew and I has emerged from some of our local innovators Looking at the opportunities that arise from some vacancy in Garima place And this is sort of aligned nicely with our work on the city plan and looking at how to create a really strong heart For the center of Canberra so a bit of it's about the opportunity that currently exists at the moment And the other side of the proposal fits in well with kind of the focus on you know, those highly skilled innovators that are working across Canberra pulling them together and being a very physical and to the community Investration of what's happening already, but in a much more concentrated way So it's looking at working with local property owners To to fill some space that brings together those very smart bright minds that allows I think Other particularly young people students to come and be a part of that And then have that connected with the digital space through the screen having you know Curated program on the screen that shows you know, someone's making an app in in this building and then Demonstrating it on the screen. So it's a very exciting proposal. It's not fully finalized yet, but as part of The work we've been doing with this sector. I think that you know, we need to start actually doing it We've talked a lot about it. We've had roundtables. We've had people pitching ideas We found some money across government to support it now It's about rolling it out and showing that it can be done and then seeing what happens out of that I think part of it is no one knows exactly where that might end but It's a very exciting proposal that that sort of builds on the strengths we have In place already with a tiny bit of government support short-term government support Well, I think the most important thing we can do is lead by example so the government I mean That's why I raised it today in a business speech because I think it is very easy to relegate the obesity epidemic to a health problem that none of us really need to worry about but When we look at the impact that already 63% of our adult population in the ACT is overweight or obese and we look at the impact That's already having on our budget if we just look at it at a purely fiscal sense You know less about you know the the health of individuals It's already a very difficult problem to manage so my view we've put out a very What people say is a very aspirational document, which is just to stop the growing obesity epidemic at where it is today at our levels before we start looking at how we we change the targets and We've outlined some strategies in that the probably the most important one is is continued education Getting people to understand the extent of the problem We're also doing some work about what community attitudes is to how we tackle this The obesity problem because I think one of the issues which was successful It's the smoking campaign was actually getting people to understand the problem and then encouraging them to change their lifestyle And we're making some changes it by leading I think we're making some changes in schools Which you may have heard about with stopping the selling of sugary drinks for example And again this just sends the message that something's got to change, but it's very hard for governments You know we'll be told that we're you know restricting individual freedoms the nanny state gone mad You know know the the food and drink industry is very very powerful and It's it's hard to find the balance of actually getting people to understand What the problem is and then getting people to change their behaviours, but I think a doctor said to me once if Everyone comes to me and says you know I need a magic pill for To to help me And he said you know I tell them that it's a healthy food and exercise That's it. There's no there's nothing more to tell you but we've just got to keep sending that message out But from a livability point of view a productivity point of view a financial point of view if we hit that target of 80 percent of adults overweight or obese 30 to 40 percent of our children entering primary school reaching the same target There won't be anything else the ACT government does but fund the health system and the health consequences of that so it's just really something that we have to embed in all of our Government work and I think people look to the government to lead on these matters no matter if they are hard to Hard to to you know encourage people to to join us, but it's a work in progress You Was the chief ministers director I expect them to play role in everything on every project across the town Look the question is good, and it goes to how does government administration effectively Progress the government's priorities, and we've made it clear what our what our priorities are. I think I've outlined The general areas today although spoken specifically about a couple of projects There is work underway at the moment as we move to a point of six minister That looks at our administration arrangements to make sure that they are Better tailored to meeting the priorities of the government and the commitments. We've made I think it is a challenge for the central agency which is You know there's two ways you can go it either becomes a doer or a Coordinator and it's sort of been a bit of both over the the term of my time in the assembly And I don't think there's a perfect solution in a in a city-state arrangement for what you expect I mean at the Commonwealth PM and C can play that very high-level strategic policy Role and it's a fairly streamlined department or it has been until recently. I think it's got more staff now and You know that's a challenge for chief ministers and Treasury director who needs to sort of be across a whole range of levels They need to be across the national agenda, but they also need to be focusing on the things that matter to our local community So these these matters are under consideration is is what I'd say, but of the key priority projects for the government their things that Well chief ministers and Treasury reports to both Andrew and I All projects that we are running through that central directorate in some way or another But you know I'm sure if there are ideas in the room about how to improve all that now's the time to To put your views forward and lobby because there will be some changes and there'll be some changes mid-year With the appointment of the six minister All right, thanks everybody for those great questions So that ends our formal proceedings for lunch today if you're very welcome to stay and Enjoy your cheese platters and can you join in me in warmly thanking the chief minister for her great presentation today? extremely fortunate indeed to have the great demonstration of a progressive leader and a progressive government and Indeed, we you know, we thank all of the support team economic development directorate and indeed Other teams who are working hard to make this happen constructive and positive outcomes for our private sector And we must take the chief minister up on her offer to provide more ideas on how we can be even more Progressive and really put our stamp and our mark on this great nation I'd like to very very warmly thank the University of New South Wales for Hosting us here today. Of course, they're Canberra campus And thank you again to our members and guests for your support of these important conversations And we'll see you at the next event. Thank you