2020 State Election Campaign
Developing ‘place based’ policies, programs and funding arrangements to best serve the needs of North West Queensland
WHAT WE SEEK:
a. Dedicated funding to support the timely implementation of the priorities and actions outlined in the North West Queensland Economic Diversification Strategy and North West Queensland (COVID-19) Regional Recovery Strategy.
“The Regional Australia Institute indicates that placed-based thinking is being adopted in many places around the world and it could be applied with equal value both in metropolitan regions and regional Australia.*”
HOW THIS WILL HELP THE NORTH WEST AND QUEENSLAND RECOVER:
Released in August 2019, following extensive consultation, the North West Queensland Economic Diversification Strategy was developed as a key action as part of the Strategic Blueprint for Queensland’s North West Minerals Province. It identifies a range of diversification opportunities to leverage the region’s competitive advantages to support new industries and employment.
We believe this Strategy is a positive example of place-based policy. However, without adequate and timely funding we fear the Strategy will fail to achieve its objectives and lose the potential to generate tangible outcomes as part of COVID-19 response measures.
The North West Queensland (COVID-19) Regional Recovery Strategy is part of Queensland’s broader Economic Recovery Strategy – Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs. Following consultation with councils and industry representative, it identifies the recovery priorities to be pursued and supported by the State Government over various recovery stages.
Central to this recovery will be the growth in jobs in key departments providing services to the North West, namely, the Department of Transport and Main Roads and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. The State Government should take the lead in reversing the fly-in fly-ou (FIFO) model of employment in rural and remote areas of Queensland.
* http://inform.regionalaustralia.org.au/process/regional-development-processes/item/place-based-approaches-to-regional-development-global-trends-and-australian-implications.