NatStats08 Conference
John Lenders MP
Treasurer of Victoria
20th November 2008
Early Data
+ “And it came to pass in those days, that
there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be
taxed ….. And all went to be taxed, every
one into his own city”
+ Luke 2, 1:3
OVERVIEW
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Importance of statistics
Facts on the Victorian economy
The measurable concept of Liveability
State and Commonwealth alliance
Importance of Statistics
+ Statistics are important for the formulation of Victorian
economic policy
– Greater certainty and evidence base
+ Statistics are also important for evaluating the outcomes
of government economic policies
– Output measures
+ Official statistics are also very important for macro policy
makers, helping us gauge the state of the economy
– Cause & effect of policy decisions
Growing Victoria Together
+ The Victorian Government's vision is that by
2010 Victoria will be a state with:
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A thriving economy
Quality health and education
A healthy environment
Caring communities
A vibrant democracy
+ An annual progress report is produced
outlining achievements
The Annual GVT Report
+ 88 indicators
+ 36 indicators use ABS statistics
– Crime will be reduced by 5 per cent from 2003 to 2008, and
Victorians will feel safer
– Greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of
energy will be reduced
– The proportion of Victorian primary students achieving the
national benchmark levels for reading, writing and numeracy will
be at or above the national average.
+ ABS data critical to monitoring achievement of
the Growing Victoria Together goals
Triple bottom line
Apart from the per capita items the main
categories that data are used for are:
+ Economic –
– employment, productivity, earnings, competitivenessinnovation, exports
+ Social wellbeing –
– average life expectancy, housing affordability,
kindergarten participation
+ Environmental –
– greenhouse gas emissions
Victoria’s economic fundamentals sound
+ Solid labour market
– Unemployment rate 4.4%
– 32,900 jobs created in the year to the end of October
+ Record levels of investment
– Private capital expenditure
– Building approvals
+ Strong Government budget position
– AAA rating maintained since 1999
– Nine consecutive years of budget surpluses
+ High population growth
Highest value of total building approvals in the nation
$b
22
12 months to September 2008
21.4
21.0
20
18
17.3
16
Victoria
Source: Australian Bureau Statistics
Queensland
NSW
Global financial market developments
+ Governments world-wide have taken action…
– Central banks have cut target rates
– Governments have guaranteed bank deposits and
have injected capital into the banking sector
– Some large financial institutions bailed-out
+ … but, global financial markets remain stressed
– Equity and commodity markets weak and volatile
– Credit remains restricted
– Borrowing costs high
Victorian infrastructure investment
$ billion
5
4
3
2
1
0
1999-00
2002-03
2005-06
2008-09
2011-12
Liveability
Definition:
“Liveability reflects the wellbeing of a
community and comprises the many
characteristics that make a location a
place where people want to live.”
Source: VCEC draft report
Key themes of VCEC draft report
+ Enhancing information provision to better
inform decision making
+ Best practice regulation to ensure only
appropriate and necessary government
intervention
+ Effective integration of government efforts –
across all levels of government with appropriate
community consultation
Key components of liveability
+ Liveability and strong communities
+ Provincial Victoria
+ Urban planning and design
+ Transport
+ Environmental quality
State alliance with Commonwealth
+ Strong links to Commonwealth Treasury and
Finance departments
+ Victorian departments work closely with ABS
+ CoAG November
Questions?