Better Delivery of Regional Programs Martin Ferguson - Shadow Minister for Urban and Regional Development; , Shadow Minister for Transport and Infrastructure

Speech

Transcript - Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia (SEGRA) 2003 7th National Conference, Queensland - 16 September 2003

Good morning.

I am very pleased to be addressing the SEGRA National Conference for the third time.

The SEGRA National Conference provides one of the very few real opportunities for the regional development community to get together and thrash out ideas.

In 2001, I outlined the very comprehensive regional development policy that Labor took to the 2001 Federal Election.

The policy would have resulted in real benefits for regions. In contrast, under the Howard Government we have seen few improvements in outer metropolitan and country regions.

Services continue to disappear and we are seeing business, opportunity and people concentrate in larger urban centres.

Our country is hollowing out. People are flocking to the Capital Cities and the southeast coastline. Inland regions are losing people and in particular, young community leaders.

The Federal Government's response to these problems - the Stronger Regions Program and more recently the Regional Partnerships Program – has failed to make any inroads on addressing them.

After seven years on the job, the Howard Government has produced a plethora of reports and feasibility studies that, once completed, are left to gather dust. The Government has overseen the dismal failure of its flagship regional programs.

The latest report is the Regional Business Development Analysis Action Plan.

Following extensive consultation the plan was handed to the Minister in early July. Since then, I understand it has been taken to Federal Cabinet where Mr Anderson met some stiff resistance from the Liberal Party economic Minister's.

The Action Plan was finally released after 7 weeks but even as he released it Mr Anderson was backing away from the recommendations.

His media release states:

"He emphasised that at this stage the report reflects the views of the independent panel and not necessarily the Government"

The report provided some home truths to the Coalition Government, home truths that have been outlined many times by many people in the last few years.

It presented the real picture of non-metropolitan Australia, a picture the Howard-Anderson Government is either ignorant of or not prepared to address.

It did not hide the fact that our nations infrastructure is falling apart around us.

It did not hide the fact that many regions, particularly inland regions are losing population and skilled workers.

It did not hide the fact that current government policy is failing.

I, like most in this room, await the Government's response to this Action Plan to see if this Government is fair dinkum about Regional Development.

The other program from the Stronger Regions package is the Sustainable Regions Program that has identified eight disadvantaged regions for special attention.

Queensland's Wide Bay-Burnett was the first of these regions to be provided with funding, and significant funding at that. In December 2001, more than $4 million was allocated to 18 projects.

When the program started one of the key indicators of disadvantage in a region- the unemployment rate - for the electorate of Wide Bay was the eighth worst in the country.

At the end of March 2003, when you would expect the program to be starting to have some impact, the unemployment rate was the worst in the country.

While I accept that unemployment is not the only measure of disadvantage, and I also accept that many factors influence a region, this is not a good result.

I contend that the reason this program and others administered by this Government, particularly the programs of National Party Ministers, fail to achieve results is that they are simply political pork barrels.

They offer only short-term solutions and distract the communities and regions from the real main game of finding long-term sustainable solutions.

The other sustainable region in Queensland, the Atherton Tablelands, confirms my point. Reports emanating from the region suggest that the hand picked committee to advise on the allocation of $18 million over 4 years, is disintegrating.

One local commentator has suggested that the program is "no longer seen as an honest effort to increase the sustainability of the region but rather an attempt to pork barrel support".

The John Anderson model of hand picking National Party apparatchiks to garner political advantage is not acceptable to regions and is clearly not working.

Last year, in Queanbeyan, I sought community feedback on the performance of the Area Consultative Committees.

I indicated that I had some strong reservations about their performance.

Since that time, few people have had anything supportive to say of Area Consultative Committees.

People I have spoken to have lost faith in the ability of ACCs to deliver for their regions.

They have become far too politically motivated and lack intellectual rigour.

All too often they have become advertising agencies for the Government and a mouthpiece for aspiring Liberal and National Party members.

And they do not come cheap. The latest estimate was that the ACC network is costing more than $14 million just to operate.

This $14 million comes off the top of any program money the government provides to Australia's regions.

It is not good enough.

Labor has a plan to address this.

We will, on coming to Government, establish strong partnerships with State, Territory and local governments to take regional development forward.

Through a Memorandum of Understanding, a Federal Labor Government will enter into formal agreements to streamline the delivery of regional development programs.

The agreements will establish a shared vision for the development of Australia's regions.

Each agreement will be individually negotiated to reflect local conditions.

It will identify the roles and responsibilities of each tier of government.

It will stipulate a process for establishing governance structures that build on existing arrangements and reflect local conditions, cementing all three tiers of government in a partnership. It will be a process that will involve consultation with the whole community and will enhance existing structures.

Commonwealth regional programs will continue to be independent from state and local government funding however, the stronger partnership approach will result in far closer cooperation when developing local solutions.

No longer will the Commonwealth programs be used to leverage state and local government funding without their full knowledge and I might say, vice versa.

A Commonwealth officer will work in each region. They will work directly with the community to ensure projects are processed as efficiently as possible.

The roles and responsibilities of these officers will be negotiated with state and local governments and will be defined in the Memorandum of Understanding.

But, critically, their role will be to represent the Commonwealth in the region and add value by negotiating and facilitating the best outcomes for all involved – community groups, government agencies and the business sector.

In representing the Commonwealth, these officers will take a wide view of Federal programs and services that affect the region in which they work.

They will liaise with the relevant governance structure in the region to support our broad ranging nation building agenda.

Labor's plan for advancing regional development will be undertaken with the support of our other key commitments in the areas of population, health, education and communication.

Australia must have a comprehensive population policy, a policy that articulates a desire to revitalise our inland regions and manages the growth of our prosperous, globalised urban and coastal regions.

Similarly, Australia needs a telecommunications strategy that will support regional development.

Only majority public ownership of Telstra will ensure that it acts in the national interest as new services such as broadband are rolled out.

If Telstra is privatised, broadband services will only be rolled out to places where it is profitable.

Future services such as broadband are not only important for new and expanding businesses. They are also vital for the development of critical social services within communities and regions.

In particular, future telecommunications services are vital for education. Our schools, TAFE's and universities are becoming more and more dependent on access to reasonable and equitable communications and data systems.

Better access to broadband would not only support an increase in student numbers but also facilitates closer engagement of the institutions with their communities.

It is this engagement that will strengthen the competitive advantage of local businesses creating more opportunities for their communities and regions.

A similar position applies to health.

The expansion of equitable access to broadband services to outer metropolitan and country regions will facilitate the more efficient delivery of health services.

Rather than forcing patients to travel to our capital cities, the expansion of access to broadband will enable doctors, with their patients, to consult with specialists via videoconferencing.

What a bonus this would be to regional communities.

It would keep the patient in the community. It would keep a lot of money in the local economy and it would provide more incentive for doctors to service these regions.

Labor understands these issues. We know that regional development relies on many factors. We know that we must support regions to retain their people, rebuild their social capital and reverse the current trend of decline.

We know that problems in regions will not be overcome by short-term politically motivated solutions. They will only be overcome by concerted effort in true partnership between the communities and all tiers of government.

Thankyou

End. Check Against Delivery