Opportunities in changing trends

It is hard to escape noticing, especially in what we hope are the later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, that change is in the air.

What we know in following speculation and developments involving everything from communication, energy supply and government services to business, industry and sport is that the Wimmera is far from immune to what will happen and is already happening.

While it might seem far from obvious as we go about our daily routines, society’s deck of cards is undergoing a major shuffle. We have started to see a broad shift in perceptions and expectations, at all levels of society, where what has been the norm is under question.

There is plenty happening and how we as a region respond by seizing the initiative and exploiting opportunities will determine success or failure in securing long-awaited socio-economic growth.

Who would have thought a decade ago the Wimmera-mallee and Western District would emerge as the potential engine room for Victoria’s energy needs, bringing with it the prospects of industrial opportunity and socioeconomic growth?

Yet the possibility is there, if development can hurdle barriers to get transmission lines and towers from Melbourne to the region.

With agriculture still pumping away and itself evolving, prospects of major Wimmera mining development hovers in the background.

We’re seeing a need to change regional public health-service provision take centre stage and municipal councils swinging into gear to meet rising levels in housing-land demand.

With the rest of Australia, we’ve also gained insight into communication and news-dissemination vulnerabilities exposed by a tug-of-war between the Federal Government and social media giant Facebook.

The reality is that regardless of how slowly the world might seem to move, society is forever changing. What one generation comes to expect, the next generation – for better or for worse – modifies or changes altogether.

Being able to ‘pivot’ has joined ‘thinking outside the box’ as progressive society catch-cries, which simply mean having flexibility as well as imagination to identify and seize opportunity.

How well we perform in responding to this evolving environment is, to a large extent, in our own hands.