Greens Treasury spokesperson and Senator for Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson provides the following comments on the release of the Senate Inquiry report into the ‘Future role and contribution of regional capitals to Australia.’

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “I initiated this Inquiry after representations from leaders from some of the larger regional towns right across Australia. These larger non-capital cities service large areas of their states, have significant populations in their own right, but often fall between the cracks in policy-making attention between big cities and agricultural production.

“This inquiry was the first of its kind to look specifically at the needs, challenges and opportunities of these regional communities. The committee travelled the country to take evidence from Townsville to Launceston, and from Geraldton to Geelong.

“The committee has provided nine major recommendations [see below] and the Australian Greens provided additional comments with one further recommendation.

“The committee has recommended the development of aspirational targets of populations movement to regional capitals, matched by tailored infrastructure plans.

“The committee was particularly impressed with the success of the NSW Evocities program and have called for a national roll-out of this successful marketing strategy to attract people moving from capital cities out to larger regional towns.

“The Greens have additionally called for the Productivity Commission to undertake an assessment of active decentralisation policies particularly in light of the patterns of settlement currently placing strains on capital cities.

“As a Senator who lives in the regional centre of Launceston, I know personally how good it can be to live away from the traffic, stress and strain of a large capital city. But far too often, policy for places like this are dictated by pork-barrelling, rather than by a serious assessment of our needs and challenges. This committee report has provided the first comprehensive assessment for reassessing the role of Federal Government in these cities,” he concluded.

Recommendations of the Senate Inquiry into the “Future role and contribution of regional capitals to Australia”:

1. That the Australian government work with state governments to develop a definition of ‘regional capital’.
2. That the Australian government work with state and territory governments and regional capitals to develop a national strategy for regional capitals. As a starting point, the strategy should: provide a framework for consultation between the respective governments and regional capitals; take into account the social needs and economic benefits of regional capitals; and provide an aspirational target of population movement to regional capitals from capital cities.
3. That the Australian government develop a national data set focused on regional capitals. Specifically, data should be gathered on: (a) who is using the resources in each regional capital (including non-residents); (b) how much Commonwealth and state funding is provided to each regional capital; and (c) the projected growth of each regional capital.
4. That the Australian government accelerate the roll-out of the National Broadband Network to all regional capitals across Australia.
5. That the Australian government modify the university funding criteria to enable organisations that support distance university education to apply directly for funding administered under the Higher Education Support Act 2003.
6. That the Australian government undertake a comprehensive review of its funding model in relation to Australia’s regional capitals.
7. That the Australian government work with the local government grants commissions in each state and territory to modify the Federal Assistance Grants program to ensure that the program recognises: the projected growth of each regional capital; and supports regional capitals to fund the cost of maintaining infrastructure used by residents in surrounding regions.
8. That the Australian government work with state governments to develop a shared methodology for infrastructure assessment.
9. That the Australian government fund an awareness campaign to promote the benefits and opportunities of relocating to regional cities.
Additional Greens recommendation:
1. That the government request the Productivity Commission to undertake an inquiry into the success of previous decentralisation policies in Australia and the potential for future active decentralisation policy in Australia, particularly in light of the strains on settlement patterns in capital cities.
Link to the committee report is here: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Rural_and_Regional_Affairs_and_Transport/RegionalCapitals45/Report
Greens Treasury spokesperson and Senator for Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson