Clear growth strategy a must
THE preliminary census figures released this week make for interesting reading.
We have had the best growth spurt of any region in Queensland and our immediate regional population exceeds that of Townsville. This is great news and the growth across the Northern Australia line was only exceeded by Darwin. This is an exciting time to be alive.
Coincidentally this week another positive report was released linking the investment in our regional cities to good public policy.
It says investing in regional cities’ economic performance makes good sense. The report shows regional cities generate national economic growth and jobs at the same rate as larger metropolitan cities.
This supports my long-held view that the government mindset at every level needs to change and to recognise we are worthy of economic investment in our own right and not just on social and equity grounds for political purposes.
We are as good as the rest. The Regional Australia Institute’s latest work confirms that city population size does not determine economic performance.
There is no significant statistical difference between the economic performance of Australia’s big five metro cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide) and its 31 regional cities in historical output, productivity and participation rates.
So you see, and as many of us have long argued, regional cities are as well positioned to create investment returns as their big-five metro cousins.
The numbers we are talking are huge but for regions to capture the opportunities a new and immediate approach is needed.
Investment that builds on our existing city and regional strengths and capabilities will produce returns. And we need to fight harder for it.
No two cities or regions have the same attributes, strengths and capabilities. Geography will always dictate the difference, but the truism that investment that builds on existing city strengths and capabilities will produce returns, will always apply.
Cairns and Toowoomba are the current standouts in Queensland and given the right levels of targeted investments, are forecast to have annual growth above three per cent for the next 15 years and in our own case building on strong foundations of a resurgent tourism industry, but we need to be careful.
We need to diversify the economy and fast and create a greater number of high-income jobs. Tourism alone will not cut it.
Our point of difference is that we have always historically looked north for opportunity and won. That is where we need to continue to go.
This is why the Northern Australia development initiative is so import and the Mayor was right to call out his concerns last week at the creeping inertia around previously-announced initiatives.
If there’s no shared vision with governments at every level and local leaders can’t get along well enough to back a shared set of priorities, or debate is dominated by opinion in spite of evidence, then unproductive opportunistic outcomes will prevail.
Negotiations to secure substantial investment in productive infrastructure and also to create the appropriate policy settings around the environment, energy and water security, land tenure, gas and mining exploration will then likely fail.
Opportunity lost. Regions need to get “investment-ready” for success and this is about mindset and determination to succeed and tell the truth as much as anything.
This means we need to be able to collaborate well enough to develop an informed set of shared priorities for investment, supported by evidence and linked to a clear growth strategy that builds on existing economic strengths and capabilities.
Cities and regions that demonstrate their capacity to deliver on this will win.