Governments must work harder at creating the right ‘environment’ to encourage the private companies to move out of congested capital cites, a new report has found.
The Select Committee on Regional Development and Decentralisation has made 13 recommendations to support and promote regional communities as sustainable, vibrant and enjoyable places to live and work.
The report “Regions at the Ready: Investing in Australia's Future” was tabled yesterday and follows a 12 month inquiry which examined best practice approaches to regional development, the decentralisation of Commonwealth entities and supporting corporate decentralisation.
Committee Chair and Victorian Nationals MP Damian Drum MP said capital cities were struggling under the pressures of population growth, congestion and high cost of living expenses.
But Mr Drum said alleviating these problems doesn’t necessarily lie in building more roads, providing more services and extending the urban sprawl.
He said the solution rests in strategically exploring the potential and capacity of Australia’s regions and taking advantage of natural advantages.
“This support must build on the talent and energy that already exists in regional areas,” he said.
“There is a need for appropriate levels of investment; investment in physical and digital connectivity, investment in human capital, and investment in regional amenity.”
Mr Drum said there was a shared belief by participating members of the committee that broader scale regional development needed to be done strategically.
“Whilst the movement of public sector government agencies is like the face of decentralisation, those benefits are absolutely dwarfed by what happens in the private sector,” he said.
“The government can set the agenda and the government can set the environment for better opportunities in the regions.
“But when you have these private sector movements from a congested area of Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne out into regional Australia to set up their businesses, they are the benefits that we really have the greatest responsibility for.
“We need to set the right environment so the private sector can take advantage of regional Australia and that’s what the report found, very, very clearly.”
The committee’s recommendations call for greater public and private investment in regional infrastructure, a considered and strategic Commonwealth decentralisation policy and the introduction of Regional City Deals for rural and regional Australia.
The committee also recommends the establishment of an ongoing parliamentary committee dedicated to examining and progressing the issues affecting rural and regional Australia, and a consolidated government policy on regional Australia, prepared through a white and green paper process.
Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government Dr John McVeigh said the Coalition Government welcomed the findings.
“This important report is the result of many months of consultation with communities across regional and rural Australia which sought to find best practice approaches to regional economic development and decentralisation,” he said.
“Strengthening rural, regional and remote communities, creating jobs and delivering a stronger economy for the long term is a key focus of the Coalition’s plan for regional Australia.
“The Government will consider the report’s recommendations and respond in due course.”
Link to full report
