Last month, the ACT had the second highest level of unemployment in Australia, according to the ABS Labour Force report.
Unemployment in the ACT was 4.5 per cent, higher than the Australian average of 4.2 per cent. The previous month, unemployment was 3.8 per cent, a recovery from October’s lockdown spike of 6.6 per cent.
In December, Tasmania had the highest level of unemployment (4.7 per cent), while Victoria and the Northern Territory came equal third (4.2 per cent).
The Canberra Liberals blamed “excessive regulation and taxation”, and called on the ACT Government to review the regulatory environment, and help businesses to create more jobs.
The government accused the Liberals of cherry-picking; they said the ACT consistently had one of Australia’s lowest unemployment rates during the pandemic, while the economy had strongly recovered, thanks to government programs.
Liberals
Liberal MLA Peter Cain, Shadow Minister for Jobs, said the ACT Government must take responsibility for these figures, and work toward creating an environment where the private business sector can thrive.
“After 20 years of a Labor-Greens Government, Canberra’s private sector is drowning under excessive regulation and taxation. As a result, the jobs market is suffering.
“This Labor-Greens Government must take responsibility and work toward a solution for Canberra.
“This Labor-Greens Government cannot rely on public service employment alone, and needs to look for ways to encourage private sector growth to create more jobs for Canberrans.”
ACT Government response
“The Canberra Liberals have started the year in their usual form with more spurious claims,” said Tara Cheyne MLA, ACT Minister for Business and Better Regulation.
“Our strong economic recovery has been underpinned by the countercyclical public investment of the ACT Government and confidence built through the quality of our public health response.”
For eight months last year (January–May, July, September, November), the ACT had the lowest or equal lowest unemployment rate in the country, Ms Cheyne pointed out. (Conversely, it had the highest in October, at the height of the pandemic.)
“The usual ‘excessive regulation and taxation’ lines that we are used to hearing from the Canberra Liberals simply don’t hold true under any form of rigorous analysis. What new regulations or taxes have been introduced in the past month that the Canberra Liberals hold responsible for the aberration seen in the December Labour force survey?”
Ms Cheyne repudiated the idea that unemployment had “skyrocketed”, as she said Mr Cain claimed.
“A month doesn’t make a trend, and the ACT generally experiences greater variability in the rate due to a smaller sample size than other jurisdictions. What is clear is that we are talking about very low unemployment numbers across the country – including in the ACT.
“Overlooking taking any of this into account is the type of amateur economic analysis we’ve come to expect of the Canberra Liberals – the same party that wants to reduce the narrow tax base of the ACT to then cut essential services like education and healthcare.”
Ms Cheyne said the ACT Government was committed to building a resilient and diverse economy with more than 250,000 jobs by 2025.
“We are continuing to invest in the industries which are the engines that drive employment growth in the ACT, focusing on attracting new investment to our city and rebuilding our tourism and events sectors,” she said.
Initiatives recently announced include:
• $3.2 million to reinvigorate international trade and engagement with key markets aligned with the ACT Government’s International Engagement Strategy.
• $1 million to continue the ICON Grants Program, delivered by the Canberra Innovation Network which helps entrepreneurs develop and grow their innovative ideas.
• $920,000 over four years to deliver both an accelerator program and a full concierge service to better support the development of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.
• $504,000 over two years to attract new businesses and investment into Canberra to further grow the economy.
• $500,000 for the continued development of the Canberra Cyber Hub.
• $450,000 towards the Academy of Interactive Entertainment’s sound stage.
• $322,000 for a Workforce Strategy to attract workers to the ACT’s growing industries.
• $200,000 for key industry advocacy.
• $150,000 for Significant Capital Ventures to help drive innovation in Canberra and build investment links between business and research.
The Better Regulation Taskforce has conducted extensive industry engagement, and recently undertook a legislative review to inform regulatory reform. These findings and a forward work program will be released early this year.
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