March 1, 2017
A National Party campaign to get more Federal Government facilities on the ground in rural and regional areas was launched on Wednesday … but residents only have nine days to make a submission.
The “Get Out Of The City Campaign” aims to drive submissions to a Senate inquiry into decentralisation.
Submissions can be made by March 10 via a dedicated website, www.getoutofthecity.com.au, which was also unveiled on Wednesday.
The Country Women’s Association has joined the National Party’s call for regional Australians to make a submission.
Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd said this was vital chance for regional Australians to be heard by city-based Labor politicians.
“Submissions close next Friday and our regional communities must have their say because this Senate Inquiry was initiated to kill off relocating Commonwealth jobs in regional centres,” he said.
“Every public service job in a regional town flows through the community and means more money for the local coffee shop, to the local mechanic, implores (sic) doctors to move there, schools to grow, and helps to deliver better transport services.
“Regional Australia deserves its fair share of government services and opportunities; and that includes being able to access quality public sector careers just as much as any capital city.
“We ask you to add your voice in support of decentralisation. Regional Australia deserves well-paid, skilled jobs. It deserves Centres of Excellence to be established to create knowledge hubs which continue to attract and grow those jobs.”
Mr O’Dowd said Labor set out in this inquiry to stop the move by the APVMA to Armidale, the CSIRO to Boorowa and the ATO to Gosford.
He said Labor also wanted to stop the Murray Darling Basin Authority, the GRDC, the Fisheries RDC and the RIRDC from moving offices to regional Australia.
“Every town that has ever wanted Centrelink or a tax office, every town that has ever wanted a Centre of Excellence – make your opinion count,” he said.
Member for Wide Bay, Llew O’Brien, also supported the call.
“Technology, communication and infrastructure give us the opportunity to enhance our vibrant regional communities; and means that government agencies can be located in local communities, and no longer have to be centralised in Canberra and other capital cities,” he said.
Mr O’Brien said he has spoken in the Parliament about the benefits that decentralisation could bring to regional communities like Wide Bay.
“With the roll out of the NBN and upgrades to the Bruce Highway progressing, the Wide Bay is better connected to Brisbane and beyond,” he said.
” Together with affordable housing and a lower cost of living, I believe the Wide Bay is an ideal place in which government agencies and departments could be located.
“Why should tens of thousands of public servants be holed up in crammed apartments in Canberra and capital cities, when our regions offer better housing and a better quality of life?”
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The move from Canberra to Armidale by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is going less than smoothly at the moment, according to media reports following a Senate Estimates hearing earlier this week.
APVMA CEO Kareena Arthy told the hearing that 48 APVMA employees had left the agency since July, including 20 scientists, despite generous incentives to stay.
The Canberra Times also reported Ms Arthy told the committee APVMA senior staff were currently using free wi-fi at a McDonald’s restaurant in Armidale because they had found no suitable office space. New offices may have to be built to house the agency.
