SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR REGIONAL AUSTRALIA

I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. 

Thank you to Kate Charters and the SEGRA Executive for the invitation to address you today.

I’m sorry I can’t be with you today – unfortunately I’m in Canberra for Parliamentary sittings instead of in beautiful tropical north Queensland.

Canberra is a long way from Mackay – but what we have in common is an aspiration to create a better future.

You have gathered together in Mackay to influence the direction and future of your local communities.

Bill Shorten’s Labor Team want to work with you to achieve that.

When last we spoke I focussed on inequality. I’m still focussed on it because the gap between rich and poor and between city and country – across every measure – is still too great.

Labor refuses to accept the idea that inequality is the natural state of affairs. Without a plan that gives all Australians confidence that they have a stake in the future of our country we will have a divided nation that is much less than it can be – in every sense of these words.

Through our “Fair Go” Agenda, Labor’s aim is to make the most of our greatest resource, our people.

To make sure everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

As a society and an economy we are always stronger when everyone experiences a fair go.

Labor’s motivation for seeking election is to hand on a better deal to the next generation than the one we received.

All of us want to make sure as parents that our kids have greater opportunities than that which we inherited.

This is the heart of Labor’s Fair Go Action Plan.

I have responsibility for Regional development. So often the focus is on grants schemes and funding individual projects – a new building, a new bridge, a new park. These things are all important, but the stud that will make the biggest difference and the stuff that Labor is completely focussed on, is investing in people. Our human capital.

If we want to grow leaders, inventors, innovators, professionals and trades people in regional Australia we have to close the education gap. And to close that gap – we have to name it, acknowledge it and put in a plan to fix it. Regional Australia has lower rates of participation in secondary education than urban areas. This factor alone is not only entrenching inequality in regional Australia, if it is not arrested it will accelerate disadvantage because the jobs of the future require a literate, numerate educated and skilled workforce – across every industry.

Labor will tackle the regional education gap at every level.

For infants – where every dollar spent has a return on investment of at least 2 and up to 17, we will invest $1.75 to ensure that every Australian 3-4 year old, regardless of their wealth or postcode gets access to pre-school. From 2021, we will make preschool and kindergarten available to every three year old in Australia, for 15 hours a week, 600 hours a year.

At present, the participation gap in secondary education between major cities and outer regional areas is 7.3%. It is why the Coalition cuts to school funding hurt regional communities most.

We will invest in our primary and secondary schools by returning all of the $17 billion that was cut from the State – Federal School funding agreement.

Local leadership can make all the difference to regional Australia.

You are leaders in your own community and like me, you can probably remember the teacher or community leader in your life that inspired you to step up and expand your horizons.

We need to grow and develop our local leaders through access to the best education and training possible.

There are skill shortages in regional Australia right now. Yet the only answer seems to be to bring people in from overseas. When the Coalition Government cut vocational and TAFE and apprentice funding it hit regional communities hardest. We are going to put public TAFE back at the centre of vocational education.

That will involve Labor renovating public TAFE campuses around the country, including in regional cities.

We will waiving the upfront fees for 100,000 TAFE places in our first term in government.

When the Coalition Government capped funding for Universities it hit regional Universities the hardest because this is where the growth in enrolments is occurring. This is where the gap in tertiary education participation is greatest. We will uncap university places, so that 200,000 Australian kids and adults from the suburbs and the bush can become the first in their family to get a degree.

This afternoon you will talk about what good decentralisation looks like.

There has been two years of “big talk” from the government about this feeding expectations from regional cities.

Labor a strong track record on decentralisation, going back to the Whitlam Government initiatives around Albury-Woodonga and Tom Urens programs for decentralisation and regional development.

The government’s decentralisation policy is very weak. It is focussed on public service jobs which is a very small part of the real story and in 18 months has only resulted in less than 100 jobs being relocated.

I’ve demanded a commitment to maintain existing public sector jobs in the regions. I think that would be a good place to start. The Government has not agreed. This gives a green light to banks and other essential services to follow suit.

For Labor, human services in regional Australia are just as important as capital works.

We know regional cities are keen to grow and develop.

Labor thinks it is important for the Commonwealth service agencies to have a strong presence in regional areas. We think that more can be done to leverage of defence and other procurement to benefit regional economies, but the main game is the private sector. Facilitating private sector investment in regional Australia is in focus and we are working on plans to support that.

Now I have focussed on the importance of developing human capital. Of course Labor will continue to partner with Local Councils and Communities in development strategies and projects. There are a few things that will guide our approach

Of course one of the best ways to facilitate private sector investment is to sort out the connectivity issues.

I have responsibility for regional communications so know how important access to broadband and mobiles services are to regional communities.

The NBN project was planned to bring modern, fast, affordable internet to all Australia.

Nearly ten years later, we are spending a lot of money but it seems that the communications problems aren’t going away.

There’s no doubt that the NBN has improved things in many places.

But Labor recognises that the issue of regional connectivity needs more work.

Instead of arguments about cost and technology, the real question we should be asking is whether we have a broadband network that is fit for purpose?

Do we have the technology that is needed, not just to get us to 2020, but to get us to 2030, 2040 and beyond.

A number of regional councils have recognised the importance of fast and reliable broadband for their futures.

Research conducted by NBN Co earlier this year showcased the economic impact of fast broadband on the city of Mackay – where you are meeting this week. 

This report showed that the provision of fibre optic NBN would generate up to 700 new businesses and up to 3,400 additional digital jobs in the Mackay region by 2021.

Mackay has recognised that the increased connectivity from the NBN will facilitate business growth and economic diversification.

Mackay has had FTTP NBN technology since August 2013 and the Mackay Regional Council, working with other councils as the Whitsunday Regional Organisation of Councils has developed a Digital Economy Strategy to take advantage of new connectivity and link it to an economic development strategy for the region.

Labor is looking forward not backwards. We have already announced policy to improve consumer rights through our Whole Sale Service Guarantee. We will have more to say on this critical project in the months to come.

The objective of bringing modern communications to regional Australia remains Labor policy but the context in which this might take place is very different to ten years ago.

We will have more to say about how we address this in the near future.

Can I leave you with the following observation. We know there is a lot wrong with the way politics has been conducted in Australia recently. Too often your government have been less than the people deserve and the country needs.

As bad as we think the government has been, we are not waiting for them to fall over and for Labor to form Government be accident. We are working on the policies and the plans to put to the Australian people so they know that if they vote of Labor – this is what it means for regional Australia.

Best wishes for the rest of your conference.