Minister Barr: ACT Jobs amp; Economic Recovery Plan
- Written by ACT Government
Released 27/08/2020
The ACT Government has today released our Jobs and Economic Recovery Plan, outlining how our city can be supported to recover from this once in a life time economic shock.
Through our $4.9 billion economic recovery plan, the Government will work in partnership with local businesses and the community sector to protect and create local jobs now, and over the coming years, as we work towards our target of more than 250,000 jobs in the Territory economy by 2025.
The Government’s initial economic survival measures have helped manage the early stages of the pandemic and have kept many Canberrans working. We have bolstered our health system and stepped in to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to support households and local businesses.
However, the next stage of economic recovery has to go further. It has to be bigger and bolder.
Jobs & Economic Recovery
The ACT Government is pushing ahead with an ambitious and diverse $4 billion infrastructure investment program.
We will build the infrastructure a growing city needs, including an expanded Canberra Hospital, an extended light rail network, new schools and a state-of-the-art CIT facility to support thousands of students into the jobs of the future.
Last week the Reserve Bank Governor called on all States and Territories to invest an additional $40 billion in infrastructure and jobs to support the national recovery. For the ACT, that would amount to around $800 million of additional infrastructure and economic development investment.
Through our plan, we are exceeding this expectation and will maintain that level of funding well into the middle of the decade.
Our infrastructure plan will support local jobs and confidence in our construction sector, with a clear pipeline of work over the next four years.
This includes:
- more than $1 billion in transport and active travel projects, including over $300 million extending light rail;
- more than $900 million on health infrastructure, including the $624 million Canberra Hospital Expansion;
- more than $400 million to build and upgrade our schools; and
- $250 - $300 million to build the new CIT campus and public transport interchange in Woden.
Following an additional investment of $61 million, we are also halfway through a 10-year, $1 billion program to build new public housing across Canberra.
Our Plan includes more immediate support to businesses and Canberra households. Having already injected $159 million in initial economic survival measures to protect jobs and support businesses and households, we will invest a further $720 million.
We are providing further fee relief for Canberra households, and providing an additional $65 million in fee relief for local businesses. This is on top of the $40 million that was provided in the last quarter of 2019-20.
We have been clear from the very start of this pandemic that we had to do more to ensure that Canberrans don’t fall through the cracks. There will be more investment in vital community support programs, additional mental health services and food relief while our city continues to feel the impacts of COVID-19.
We are also stepping in to protect jobs in our local community sector when Commonwealth payments for equal remuneration end in November 2021.
Our Jobs and Economic Recovery Plan outlines how the ACT Government will create new jobs in our own workforce. Right now, Canberrans are relying on the services the ACT Government provides and we will keep up with growing demand.
Maintaining confidence in non-government sectors is fundamental to Canberra’s future. The Government intends to reach our target of more than 250,000 local jobs by 2025 by supporting employment growth in areas such as advanced technologies, cyber security, renewable energy, construction, space, tourism, the arts and defence industries.
We will continue to deliver reforms in planning and taxation, while creating the regulatory environment for businesses to grow and hire more staff.
The pandemic isn’t over and there is more work to do.
The ACT Government has the right plan to invest in Canberrans and lead our city through these difficult times.
- Statement ends -
Section: Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases
