A NEW report has pushed the merits of decentralising public service jobs to regional towns, as the federal government tries to tackle swelling populations in the capital cities.
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The “Building Up and and Moving Out” report has made a swathe of recommendations, including exploring more decentralisation of government services.
Boosting tertiary education options in the bush and giving councils a bigger say in local infrastructure projects were also floated as options to grow regional cities.
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Tamworth mayor and Regional Capitals Australia (RCA) deputy chair Col Murray was optimistic about federal focus shifting to the regions and the next term of government could bring big things for the bush.
“The recommendations coming out of the report replicate many of the things we have been lobbying for,” he said.
Despite leadership turmoil in Canberra and the real possibility of a change of government at the next election, Cr Murray said it didn’t mean regional needs and development would go ignored.
“It presents an opportunity with the uncertainty in government to show how RCA could influence policy,” he said.
“It presents a great opportunity to take some of these recommendations and support them.”
The report also urged action on the City Deals program which could fund projects in regional towns to spark population growth.
The push for a Tamworth City Deal has been on Cr Murray’s agenda for a number of years, but he believed it wasn’t a pipe dream.
“It’s a lot closer, we’ve heard successive ministers talk about City Deals,” he said.
“The appetite is there and there’s certainly a better understanding of what the needs of regional cities are and the importance of regions to the future.”
Another key recommendation was the development of a 50-year national settlement plan for the regions.
“As the population ticked over to 25 million recently, debate about the speed at which the country is growing has increased and people are just starting to realise that not everyone needs to live in Melbourne or Sydney,” Cr Murray said.
According RCA, the median house price in Tamworth is approximately $545,000, compared to the median house price in Sydney which is almost double the local marker, sitting at $1,111,000.
“Regional capital cities are key to easing the metropolitan squeeze,” Cr Murray said.