ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
ECONOMIC
DIVERSIFICATION
OUR COMMITMENT Improving the ACT's jurisdictional competitiveness for small businesses to incentivise more businesses to set up in Canberra and stay here as they grow, including by tackling insurance costs, particularly workers’ compensation insurance, and reducing payroll tax from 6.85 per cent to match or beat the NSW rate of 5.45 per cent. WHAT WE STAND FOR Developing a thriving economy with a strong skills base, supporting small businesses, and local producers. Investing in a long-term plan for attracting and retaining the skilled workers we need now and for the future. Prioritising buying local in government procurement while ensuring transparency and value for money, including by sourcing more products from the Canberra Region at government-supported events and venues, and improving the efficiency and uniformity of procurement processes across government. Building events infrastructure that can host major gigs, sporting events, and conferences. Collaborating with the private sector to develop a coordinated forward events calendar supported by policy settings capable of fuelling our night-time and visitor economies.
WHY WE NEED CHANGE
Canberra is colloquially known as a ‘government town’ but employment opportunities are shifting, with 63 per cent of jobs now in the private sector. Efforts are needed to further diversify our private sector as a way of future-proofing our economy and broadening our revenue base. But the jurisdictional disadvantages of operating a business in the ACT create barriers to the economic diversification of our capital. Local business owners report feeling frustrated by the policies of the current government with some considering escaping the ‘Canberra tax’ by moving to a jurisdiction with policy settings that are more conducive to their success.
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The ACT is the highest-taxing jurisdiction in Australia, and has the highest taxation growth rate with per-capita taxation having increased by 24 per cent in the last two years.
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Payroll tax is significantly higher in the ACT than in any other jurisdiction.
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Canberra-based businesses pay the highest workers compensation insurance premiums in Australia in almost 75 per cent of industries. Premiums in the construction industry are almost twice the national average, and premiums are more than three times the national average for electricity, gas, water and waste service providers.
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With the higher cost of doing business in Canberra, the ACT has the highest rate of business closures in Australia and the lowest long-term survival rate for new businesses.
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Clearer pathways are needed for both domestic and international students and trainees to remain in Canberra after being educated and trained, including in the healthcare sector where experts are calling for government intervention to encourage people to ‘stay where they train’.
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With Australia’s second-oldest convention centre and over a decade of talk about a new stadium without breaking ground, we have consistently failed to realise our full potential when it comes to attracting major sporting, music, academic and business events to the national capital.
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Event-based tourism is further limited by weak regional transport connectivity combined with an unambitious events schedule lacking in private-sector collaboration.