Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

4/23/2009

Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 2 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

CONTENTS 1 Introduction ...... 3 2 Regional profile ...... 4 3 Significant industries in the region ...... 6 3.1.1 Tourism ...... 6 3.1.2 Pastoral industries ...... 8 3.1.3 Mining, oil and gas ...... 9 4 Current impact of the global financial crisis...... 11 4.1 Tourism restricted ...... 11 4.2 Reduced export demand for beef ...... 11 4.3 Uncertainty in mining, oil and gas sector reducing exploration and resource development...... 11 4.4 Reduced capacity for residents to utilise air services is impacting on the maintenance of a quality air service...... 12 5 Opportunities to address short term issues...... 12 5.1 Commit to delivery of high speed broadband to the region ...... 12 5.2 Commit to the development of sealed road links to regional centres...... 13 5.3 Support for RPT air services to the region...... 14 6 Opportunities to enhance economic and environmental sustainability and the liveability of the region ...... 15 6.1.1 Infrastructure ...... 15 Appendix A ...... 18 Appendix B ...... 19 Appendix C ...... 20 End Notes ...... 28

2 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 3 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

1 INTRODUCTION The Barcoo and Diamantina Shire Councils cover a vast area of the outback including most of the . The wide range of services provided by these Councils and the workforce that they maintain are fundamental to the sustainability of the communities in the region.

Over the years we have demonstrated a responsible balanced approach which at times has had to be innovative to achieve our aims, but we have always maintained a focus on sustaining the triple bottom line while continuing to develop and improve our shire, our region and our State.

In short,

We know what we are doing, we are in control and we are making massive improvements.

However, like the rest of the country, we are suffering because of the global financial crisis and would welcome and greatly benefit from the opportunity to work with the Commonwealth Government to address the issues identified in this submission and to thereby enhance the economic, environmental and the liveability of our region in the short and long term.

3 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 4 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

2 REGIONAL PROFILE Barcoo and Diamantina Shires lies in the region known as the Channel Country in far south western Australia. They cover an area of 157,000 sq km or over three times the size of Tasmania or Denmark.

The region has four main towns , Bedourie, Jundah and as well as the villages of Stone Henge and Betoota.

Bedourie, the administrative centre for the Diamantina Shire is located 1600 km west of and 1200 km north of Adelaide.

4 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 5 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Windorah, Birdsville and Bedourie have four aircraft services per week on the Brisbane- Mount Isa Circuit.

The region’s wealth lies within its cattle and sheep industries, tourism, developing resources sector and natural environment. Located within Queensland's Channel Country, bordering South Australia and the Northern Territory, this area is renowned for producing prime quality beef. The natural irrigation from the Thompson, Barcoo, Cooper, Diamantina and Georgina River Systems creates a unique natural environment that has for over 100 years supported a prime cattle fattening industry and is now allowing for the successful large scale production of certified organic beef.

The value of our environment is recognised in the four national parks within the area of the two Shires. The , Welford, Diamantina, (named in the top ten National Parks in Australia) and Astrebla National Parks all offer unique scenery and wildlife for visitors to experience.

Despite its size, Birdsville is a well-known destination for many Australian and International visitors. The town hosts one horse race meeting a year, when over 6,000 people swell the town population. It is the start of the famous Birdsville Track, which originally was used as a stock route for moving cattle from Queensland to Southern markets.

5 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 6 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

3 SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIES IN THE REGION 3.1.1 TOURISM Current situation and Potential growth opportunities

Tourism is a strong economic driver for the Channel Country. Councils have played an extremely important role in the development of this tourism market on a regional and local level. The Councils coordinates tourism promotion of cooperation between business, tourism operators and the visitors to the region. The Council’s operate tourism information services that promote the shires and provides information on surrounding regions. The Council’s and the private sector have made significant capital investments in tourist related infrastructure to facilitate growth and meet demands as visitation has increased. In the last 10 years motel rooms in the region have increased, three new roadhouses have been constructed, 2 new caravan parks established, art galleries and tourist guide businesses commenced. Diamantina Shire Council has recently established a new tourist information centre in Bedourie and invested $2.2 million in state of the art visitor and interpretative centre in Birdsville. Barcoo Shire has established new visitor centres in Windorah and Jundah and also recently constructed a new airport terminal building in Windorah.

The unique environment of the Channel Country will ensure that it is always a sought after destination for visitors. The areas of potential growth that are presently untapped are the fly in / “high end” market, back packers or those using road public transport and the families and “grey nomads” who have conventional (non 4WD) motor vehicles. With infrastructure similar to other isolated destinations like Uluru, Broome, Cooktown etc there is no doubt that all forms of tourism would significantly increase and importantly the length of the tourist season would increase.

6 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 7 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Issues impeding growth

The main issue impeding tourism growth in the region is the standard of the State controlled road network. As there is no bitumen sealed link from Birdsville or Bedourie to the rest of the state road network, tourist travel west of Windorah is restricted to those who have a four wheel drive vehicle. While travel on these roads is possible in a conventional family vehicle with care, the vast majority of people are not willing to risk the potential for vehicle damage or break down in such a remote area. The restriction on the use of conventional vehicles puts the iconic channel country, Simpson Desert and Birdsville out of the reach of the majority of Australians. The fact that a large section of the market does not travel to the Diamantina Shire impacts on the areas such as Windorah, Jundah and more easterly towns that tourists would travel through on their journey.

Similarly the lack of sealed roads impedes the introduction of regular bus routes through the area which would make travel affordable and open

up opportunities for the back packer market.

With regard to fly in tourism, in the past the small size of the RPT aircraft has restricted access and the unreliability of the service discouraged not only local use but also discouraged local tourist operators from promoting the service.

Opportunities to address impediments

The most significant factor in favour of tourism in the region is that there is a massive untapped tourism market. People want to come to the region and all we need to do is facilitate their access to the area. We have seen over the years the impact that sealed access has had on tourism in places like Uluru, Broome and Karumba and in more recent years Cooktown. There is no doubt that good safe all weather access to the region would have a significant and sustained increase in visitation and open up this unique part of the Nation to all Australians. It would allow for conventional vehicle access and the establishment of regular bus services through the area.

Similarly, providing a good quality, reliable air service will allow those who do not wish to drive and short stay international visitors to access the area. In the past the only option for

7 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 8 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia these people has been private air charter. Council considers that it is vital that the current “trial” air service continues to operate and is committed to by the when it goes to tender on its subsidised regional air services contracts.

3.1.2 PASTORAL INDUSTRIES Current situation and Potential growth opportunities

Per capita statistics are often presented to show the perceived high cost of maintenance of services in western areas. If this same logic is applied to the production of wealth, we see that the value of production and wealth generated per capita in remote areas is enormous. The productivity of this area for high value primary production is multiplied many times through the transport, processing, marketing etc to get the final product to the consumer. It is therefore vital to the economy of the State and Nation to ensure that these communities remain populated and that quality infrastructure is provided and maintained to facilitate sustainability in primary production. Numerous studies have confirmed the positive cost/benefit ratio of investment in these remote areas, so it makes good business sense for the Government to invest in infrastructure development in these areas.

Data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics included in Appendix B and shows that for the Western and South Western and Channel Country region, in 2005-06 there was beef cattle sale revenue of $462.7 million as well as the equivalent of $221.5 million in cattle transferred out of the region.

This equates to over $600 million in wealth generation in that year from beef cattle production from our region. This demonstrates that with the application of the multiplier the total wealth generation attributable to this region on a per capita basis is enormous.

The historically low turnover of grazing properties in the region and the significant investment required to purchase one when they do come on to the market is indicative of the quality of the channel country for large scale high end cattle production.

Issues impeding growth

Access to a quality road network is by far the biggest issue for primary producers in the region, but attracting and retaining staff is a constant challenge. The major issues which impede staff attraction and retention include housing, quality communication and internet access and the reliability of health services.

The road network as it is at present is not reliable as it can be closed due to storm rains hundreds of kilometres from the point of departure of cattle transport. This unreliability is problematic especially for the cattle going to export market as they are required to be delivered at specific times to meet abattoir and shipping time tables. Interrupted travel is

8 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 9 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia made even more problematic for certified organic cattle as if they have to be unloaded and held until road conditions improve, they must be fed organic hay and they cannot be left to graze in uncertified pasture as they will lose their organic status.

The nature of gravel roads is that they are hard on trucks and the stock. High truck maintenance costs are passed on to producers and losses to the producer through bruising of stock from rough conditions can be significant. The development of “cattle care” and similar animal welfare quality assurance systems has highlighted the issue of prolonged exposure of cattle to dust generated on the long sections of unsealed road.

Opportunities to address impediments

The opportunities to address the issues identified above are simple.

 Bring the State controlled network in the region up to a bitumen sealed standard.  Facilitate the establishment of quality housing that is accessible by all of the community including businesses.  Establish a reliable fibre optic telecommunication infrastructure network.

These basic issues, roads, housing and communications are taken for granted by most Australians and are considered to be “as of right”. If we can work together to give our community these basic requirements it will continue to grow, develop and add to the wealth of our Nation.

3.1.3 MINING, OIL AND GAS Current situation and Potential growth opportunities

An assessment of energy and mining activities was made in the Nairn Report as follows. “Energy A major energy resource is the south west gas fields covering the Cooper-Eromanga Basins, where crude oils are currently refined into diesel fuel some of which is supplied direct to service stations, Councils and contractors at Windorah, Birdsville, Bedourie and Boulia at competitive prices. A gas pipeline runs to Mt Isa from the Cooper basin. An assessment of further hydrocarbon potential in in the Cooper- Eromanga Basin project area showed that there are possibilities of further commercial discoveries in this region. 3.2. Mining Mt Isa is one of the largest Copper and Zinc mining and refining centres in the world and its future looks bright with further mining development in Queensland’s North West. Opal mining provides a constant contribution to the region’s production and one third of Queensland’s total production.”1

Since 2004 further exploration and development of the energy and mining resources have occurred with renewed activity in the area. In Diamantina Shire alone, two locations are in the initial development phase for the mining of copper, zinc, uranium and gold and a third is

9 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 10 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia for diamonds. The State Government has recently released expressions of interest for mining leases across the shire.

Issues impeding growth

The lack of infrastructure, roads, air services, housing and communications have a significant impact on the viability of resource extraction operations.

Roads Mining and energy activities require a lot of equipment and workers to be transported by road. As with issues with cattle producers, unreliability, high operating costs and the possibility of goods damaged in transit are significant impositions on operations and profitability. Telecommunications Mining and energy activities require high capacity data transfer capacity to be effective. At present any significant data transfers must be downloaded to tape or disc and transported to the data processing centre. The lack of a reasonable telecommunications network is a major disincentive to the establishment of operations in this region. Air Services Most resource extraction activities in remote areas rely heavily on air services to transport staff. Especially in the early stages of development RPT services are used to fly in and out staff and if operators cannot access a reasonable service, the cost of charter flights will impact on the decisions as to if to proceed with the activity.

Opportunities to address impediments The opportunities to address the issues identified above are simple.

 Bring the State controlled network in the Shire up to a bitumen sealed standard.  Facilitate the establishment of quality housing that is accessible by all of the community including businesses.  Ensure that the current 30plus RPT air Service remains continues.  Establish a reliable telecommunication infrastructure network.

10 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 11 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

4 CURRENT IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS.

4.1 TOURISM RESTRICTED Tourism plays a significant part in the economy of the region. Tourist visitation to the area is restricted due to the standard of the regional road network and the perceived requirement for a four wheel drive vehicle to safely travel in the area. Because of the nature of the road network, visitation is generally restricted to the cooler and dryer winter months and visitors tend to plan their trips well in advance. The global financial crisis (GFC) has impacted on the numbers of visitors to this area. Fuels costs, costs associated with the owning and of running a four wheel drive vehicle, the expected cautionary behaviour of consumers in periods of economic downturn and the uncertainty of the job market, (therefore an unwillingness to commit to forward planning of holidays) have likely contributed to this situation.

4.2 REDUCED EXPORT DEMAND FOR BEEF The channel country is world renowned for its production of high quality beef. In recent years the production of organic beef on a large scale has further increased the value of this area for its unique natural environment. The majority of this beef produced is for the high end export market. The distances involved and the unreliable road network have historically made transport the most significant production cost for the beef industry, but the premium available for quality channel country beef has counteracted this cost to a certain extent.

The GFC has impacted on the cattle industry in a number of ways. Firstly, the financial impact in export markets has seen demand and therefore prices decline. Secondly, the fluctuation of the Australian dollar has also had a significant impact on the stability of margins. Thirdly fuel and transport costs have increased production costs. The combination of these factors has simply impacted on producer’s bottom line. The natural result of reduced revenue is to cut costs and in the case of many producers that has also meant reducing expenditure on capital works. These two factors have meant that employment opportunities have reduced both in working for producers and contractors who base their business on construction and maintenance activities such as fencing contractors, earth moving contractors, mustering contractors etc.

4.3 UNCERTAINTY IN MINING, OIL AND GAS SECTOR REDUCING EXPLORATION AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT. Western Queensland is a well known resource region. Remoteness and lack of infrastructure, road, airports and communications has in the past reduced the viability of new mining, gas and oil ventures even though deposits have been identified for some time. The circumstances prior to the GFC had encouraged a variety of resource related feasibility reviews including onsite resource assessment and testing and detailed exploration. The GFC

11 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 12 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia has impacted on these exploration and development activities which may now be shelved until commodity prices and or infrastructure improves.

4.4 REDUCED CAPACITY FOR RESIDENTS TO UTILISE AIR SERVICES IS IMPACTING ON THE MAINTENANCE OF A QUALITY AIR SERVICE. The Queensland Government supports an air service to the Shire through subsidies. The contracted service provider went into liquidation at the end of 2008 and a new service provider is now temporarily in place. The current service provides transport to Brisbane twice per week on a 30 plus seat aircraft. This service provides significant benefits to the community and creates the opportunity to develop tourism ventures. The service is under review by the Queensland Government and its continuation will be assessed on its patronage. The problem created by the GFC is that many local residents are choosing cheaper transport options or not travelling at all and therefore passenger numbers may not be sufficient to convince the QLD Government to continue the service.

5 OPPORTUNITIES TO ADDRESS SHORT TERM ISSUES. How the Commonwealth Government can work with us to achieve our goals.

5.1 COMMIT TO DELIVERY OF HIGH SPEED BROADBAND TO THE REGION In a letter to the Prime Minister in January 2007 the Mayor of the Barcoo Shire Council, Cr Bruce Scott Wrote, “These communities are lacking many basic telecommunications services and communication bandwidth, such as no access to mobile phones, additional dialup services such as caller ID and high speed data transfer through facsimile. ADSL and ADSL 2 services are not available in most centres and real time video conferencing is either non existent or very difficult at times. There are also some towns that lack the ability to increase their connection to fixed phone dialup in new business and residential developments.”

“The delivery of the latest telecommunications services is in many ways far more important to remote areas than higher populated areas. There are so many essential services that could be delivered through higher bandwidth services, such as health consultation and diagnostic services, higher education opportunities, e-commerce, and the ability to function in a global economy as well as many other social justice issues.”

Unfortunately for the region there has been no change to this situation and it is critical that the Commonwealth Government acts on the repeated requests from the Councils in the

12 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 13 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia region and the report prepared by “The independent Regional Telecommunications Review Committee” and funds the installation of fibre optical cable to these communities. As pointed out by the committee; “The Review reflected on the role of telecommunications in supporting the contribution of regional Australia to our national economic and social wellbeing and the Australian sense of identity and diversity. In particular, the Review noted the role of telecommunications in supporting regional sustainability, economic development and prosperity by: enabling improved access to health, education and emergency services facilitating greater participation and interaction for people living and working in more remote locations, especially remote Indigenous communities, and providing regional Australians with an assurance that they will able to access telecommunications services appropriate to their personal and business needs. “2

The impact of sub standard telecommunication infrastructure to any community in Australia is simple. If you are not connected you cannot participate in the broader economy or community. The lack of a quality telecommunication options is becoming the most significant infrastructure issue for the region and a failure by the Commonwealth Government to address it will eventually drive these communities to extinction.

These communities have significant challenges without this impediment and all that is being asked for is to have the same opportunities as the rest of the Country including many similarly isolated communities. The attached submission by the Barcoo and Diamantina Shire Councils highlights the main issues and opportunities regarding improved telecommunications infrastructure and it is interesting to note how the south west corner of Queensland has been very obviously excluded from the fibre optic network.

Recommended action

THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT COMMIT TO FUND THE INSTALLATION OF FIBRE OPTIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK TO THE DIAMANTINA SHIRE COMMUNITIES THROUGH ITS DIGITAL REGIONS INITIATIVE FUNDING PROGRAM.

5.2 COMMIT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEALED ROAD LINKS TO REGIONAL CENTRES. Improved road infrastructure is critical to all aspects of the economy and quality of life of the Diamantina Shire Community. The standard of the road network impacts on:  Tourism  Cattle production costs  Animal welfare in transport time and dust and rough conditions  Vehicle operation costs for individuals  Access to specialist medical services  Access to public transport  Viability of resource extraction operations

13 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 14 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

 Road safety  Transport costs on all incoming commodities  Quality of life for residents Council has for many years been working to improve the road network and with the support of State and Federal initiatives have made good progress over the last 10 to 15 years. However both communities are still not connected to the state road network by sealed bitumen road. Calls by Council to address this issue purely on social equity grounds have largely fallen on “deaf ears” so it commissioned a detailed economic assessment of the costs and benefits of road improvements in 2000 which was revised and updated in 2004. This report concludes that the sealing of the Windorah to Birdsville (benefit cost ratio 2.77%) and Windorah to Bedourie (benefit cost ratio 2.46%) roads are economically well justified and will deliver a significant return on investment to the region and Nation as a whole. As the report states, “Any benefit to cost ratio above 1.0 means that a road improvement is economically justified. However, as road funds are competitive and in short supply, a benefit to cost ratio greater than about 2.5 (discounted at 9%) is normally required to ensure funding.” “As improvements are already scheduled to continue on the roads from Bedourie to Boulia and from Bedourie to Birdsville, then these works are unlikely to be deferred on economic grounds. All of the other roads are sufficiently well justified as to attract early attention.”3

The report also shows that a $31,316,000 capital outlay on the Windorah Birdsville road would deliver $75,344,000 in savings and industry benefits and the Windorah to Bedourie road with a capital cost of $29,628,000 would return $60,774,000 in savings and industry benefits. This is clear indication that capital expenditure on these roads would deliver significant social and economic benefits to the region in the long term. While it is understood that the completion of these projects are not short term options what Council is seeking from this inquiry is the recognition that these projects are important to the economic and social sustainability of the region and to recommend that the Commonwealth Government commit to fund these projects over a four year period. This commitment would have an immediate short term benefit in that it would secure and grow employment in the region and give confidence to business interests, developers and resource producers to move forward with planned projects and activity.

Recommended action

THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT COMMIT 45 MILLION DOLLARS OVER FIVE YEARS TO FUND THE COMPELTION OF THE BITUMEN SEALING OF THE WINDORAH TO BIRDSVILLE ROAD.

5.3 SUPPORT FOR RPT AIR SERVICES TO THE REGION. The need to retain a quality regular passenger transport (RPT) air service to the region is vital to sustaining its economy and liveability. As mentioned earlier the use of the 30 seat capacity aircraft currently servicing the region is being monitored by the Queensland Government to determine the size of aircraft it will specify in new subsidised service delivery contracts.

14 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 15 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Council has experienced the negative aspects associated with the use of a smaller aircraft on these western routes and sees the maintenance of a higher capacity aircraft as an important part of the mix in moving the community forward.

An offer to the Queensland Government of some fixed term assistance to fund the continued operation of a 30 plus seat aircraft on the western route may be sufficient to secure this important service until economic circumstances improve.

Recommended action

THAT THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT PROVIDE TOP UP FUNDING SUPPORT TO THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNEMNT TO SECURE THE MAINTENANCE OF A 30 PLUS SEAT RPT AIR SERVICE TO THE SHIRE FOR THE PERIOD OF THE NEXT SUBSIDISED AIR SERVICES CONTRACT.

6 OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND THE LIVEABILITY OF THE REGION 6.1.1 INFRASTRUCTURE Community consultation in the past has consistently identified Roads, Housing, Communications and Health in the top five areas of importance to our residents. It is not surprising that people living in Australia in the twenty first century would have an expectation of access to these most basic of needs. The fact is that without satisfactory infrastructure, growth and sustainability is impeded. Both Councils have worked with governments and the private sector over many years to address these issues and has made very good progress.

It would be reasonable to say that the Councils and the communities will continue to work at addressing their needs with or without outside help, but some of these changes are beyond our capacity and do provide the Commonwealth government with a great opportunity to assist us in getting them resolved more quickly and thereby allowing this region to realise its potential and increase its contribution to the wealth of the Nation.

Roads

The sealing of the State controlled road network in the region has been in progress since the 1960’s with the “beef roads” project. Sealing of roads ceased for a period of thirty years until a renewed commitment from the State Coalition saw a limited sealing program recommence. In the intervening years progress has been made but it has been slow and today some 650 kilometres of State controlled road in the Diamantina, Barcoo and adjoining Shires remains unsealed.

15 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 16 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

These communities and Councils have always seen roads as their major infrastructure priority in terms of productivity, sustainability and improving liveability for residents.

To establish and fund a program to finally get the State controlled road network sealed would have both an immediate and ongoing positive impact on the liveability of the community, the productivity of existing industries, facilitate the establishment of new or significant growth of existing businesses and ensure the sustainability of the region.

Recommended action

THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT PROVIDE 45 MILLION DOLLARS OVER FIVE YEARS TO FUND THE COMPLETION OF THE BITUMEN SEALING OF THE WINDORAH TO BIRDSVILLE ROAD.

Telecommunications

The long term issues and solutions around telecommunications are the same as those identified for short term action. No community can be sustainable in the twenty first century without access to reliable high speed broadband internet and telecommunication services. Satellite telecommunications which were once seen as a viable alternative to fibre optics have proven to be unreliable with limited capacity. Other remote areas in Queensland (as shown in Appendix A) have fibre optic connections and if this region is to continue to develop, we need to secure our future connectivity with the world by having this infrastructure put in place. As identified in the Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils review of telecommunication infrastructure, issues and options paper (Appendix C) the social, health and educational benefits to flow from improved telecommunications would be a significant additional benefit.

16 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 17 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Recommended action

THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT FUND THE INSTALLATION OF A FIBRE OPTIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK TO THE DIAMANTINA SHIRE COMMUNITIES THROUGH ITS DIGITAL REGIONS INITIATIVE FUNDING PROGRAM.

Air services The existence of viable and sustainable towns in the region have and will continue to play a significant part in the quality of lives of those living in the area and to the economic sustainability of the region. Even with road network upgrades, distances are long and periodically major flooding of the channel country makes travel by road impossible. Therefore a reliable air service is vital to facilitate business trips for residents and those travelling to the region, personal emergencies, resupply during flood events etc. Long term Council sees a need to continue to upgrade our airports to accommodate larger aircraft and to ensure the retention of quality RPT services. If the short term assistance mentioned earlier can be confirmed, the Councils are confident that as circumstances improve, demand for seats on these services will grow to require larger capacity aircraft. As the service is likely to continue in the region on a single route, it is vital that all of the airports are consistently upgraded so that operators are not restrained from increasing air craft size as demand increases. An ongoing funding program, potentially with Local and State Government contributions, would allow Councils to provide the resources required to ensure facilities are upgraded to meet growing demand. Recommended action

THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT ESTABLISH A JOINTLY FUNDED (WITH STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT) ONGOING PROGRAM FOR CAPITAL WORKS ON AREODROMES ON THE FAR WESTERN QUEENSLAND RPT AIR SERVICE ROUTE.

17 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 18 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

APPENDIX A

Fibre Optic cable network in Queensland

……. Proposed Fibre Optic Link

Existing Fibre Optic Network

18 APPENDIX B Data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics web site. http://www.abareconomics.com/ame/mla/download.asp

Farm survey data for the beef, slaughter lambs and sheep industries Disclaimer

Livestock Population Total cash Total cash Total Industry Region Year transfers - (farms) receipts ($) receipts Transfers outward ($) All Beef Industries Western & South Western and Channel 2005-06 363 $1,274,758 $462,737,154 $610,366 $221,562,858 Combined Country Financial data is expressed in 2005-06 dollars.

ITEM DESCRIPTION Population Estimated number of farms in the selected categories Sample Number of sampled farms in the selected categories Total cash receipts Cash inflows to the farm business during the financial year from livestock, livestock products, crops, agistment, sharefarming, contracts, insurance claims, compensation, govt assistance, royalties, rebates, refunds. Incs imputed value of lstock transfers off farm

Livestock transfers - Estimated value of livestock transferred out outward

APPENDIX C

Telecommunication INFRASTRUCTURE

BARCOO & DIAMANTINA SHIRES 2008

Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 21 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Introduction.

There is a small number of Shire Councils in Queensland (Diamantina and Barcoo) where “basic” telecommunication services are not available.

Importantly, future terrestrial-based technologies are also less likely to become available because of the large capital cost involved in building the platform.

The gap is widening between the “have-nots” and “haves”. What is needed is for the Commonwealth to make a ONE-OFF investment so that the platform can be built which would allow new services (broadband and mobiles) and competition to occur.

For this to occur, and to meet the future needs a substantial optic fibre network is required which would provide a new robust network.

This would allow better services to be delivered through new technologies, and would allow towns in the region to be on a par with urban areas. It can be summarised as:

• Removing the telecommunications divide that threatens rural and remote areas • Providing equitable access to Government Departments, Agencies and constituents in Queensland. • Supporting new and innovative features to address evolving business requirements • Enabling applications like desktop Video Conferencing to flourish and creating new ways of doing business. • Providing common, scalable network topologies • Ability to scale to very high speeds

Local Government plays a critical role in the future of many small rural towns. There are many towns attempting to succeed and grow and telecommunications would underpin some of the growth. However carriers are hamstring because they have a commercial responsibility.

Local Councils, Regional Development bodies and the LGAQ are working together to develop a solution for Queensland.

If remote parts of Queensland are to catch-up with other areas of the State and Country, a significant contribution by the Commonwealth is needed because of three key factors:

 Cost of the Infrastructure

 The Benefit of an Optic Fibre Backbone – the platform  Building from the Platform – exchanges/towers.

21 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 22 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

1. Cost of the Infrastructure.

The reason why external funding of this project is needed, is because it is extremely expensive to provide state-of-the-art telecommunication to such remote locations as Birdsville, Bedourie, Jundah, Windorah and Stonehenge. In these places it is both the core platform and the access technology that are required to be upgraded or built.

Carriers such as Telstra need to make commercial decisions. The cost of building optic fibre in the region makes any investment extremely negative.

In comparison of the different core technologies, the systems that service Birdsville, Bedourie, Windorah, Jundah etc are less reliable than modern telecommunications infrastructure and the dependence of many radio repeater sites on non-commercial primary power adds to unreliability.

When the existing infrastructure was installed, the systems met the requirements for its primary purpose of delivering POTS services, but government and customer requirements for different products, faster data speeds have since matured.

The need is to provide a scalable, robust solution, that would meet the future needs of the region.

2. The Benefit of the Optic Fibre Backbone – the platform

The second component of the project is to appreciate the benefits of the optic fibre would bring to South-West Queensland.

The key point is that it would provide the ability to deliver a range of new access technologies in particular broadband ADSL and mobiles services

Secondly, it is our belief that Optic fibre would be a superior solution compared to satellite backbone technologies.

Satellite is considered a short-term solution for two reasons. First there is the problem with latency which limits the ability for real-time applications and secondly, the trend is for bandwidth-hungry applications and the critical need for scalable infrastructure.

Satellite would not give the regional towns the confidence for long-term growth.

If optic fibre was delivered it would allow a range of State Government services delivered that are currently unavailable. This includes schools, health, and safety, police. It would also support commercial, primary production, business and tourism requirements in the region.

Improve the robustness of the network – some sections of the existing network are occasionally subject to dropouts and fading. The optic fibre will allow for a more reliable network. It would provide for a better delivery of Government services – not only health

22 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 23 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia and education – but also all other Commonwealth and State agencies as well as a noticeable community benefit by having a more reliable phone system. It would reduce community isolation, which is a considerable issue for this area, where access is via gravel roads which are regularly closed during periods of wet weather.

Future-proof the entire southwest region of the State – the nature of the core infrastructure being proposed would be scalable to meet virtually any telecommunications needs in the area. The new optic fibre backbone would also facilitate the deployment of additional technologies, such as ADSL, and digital mobile phone base station.

3. Building from the Platform

The third component is for a mobile base station at the primary and secondary towns in the region Birdsville, Bedourie, Windorah, Jundah etc. Again, Commonwealth Funds are sought to build the base station, but it would be a demonstration of providing a complete telecommunications access solution.

Again both the mobile base station and the provisioning of ADSL at the exchanges could only be possible as a result of the increased capacity the optic fibre provides. The mobile base stations and the DSL broadband would give the Community an immediate and usable benefit.

The building of mobile phone base stations would provide “island coverage”, ie that is it would not connect with existing mobile phone services. However, this island coverage is still important especially for tourism and transient populations.

Improve data communications – which would be crucial not only for health and education applications, other government departments, but also at a broader community benefit. Currently the radio system feeding Bedourie has a maximum data speed of 26kbs, making video-conferencing impossible. Access to a network that could provide services such as video-conferencing and broadband is important for the region.

While video-conferencing is possible, demand for greater bandwidth is limited because of the nature of the radio infrastructure currently feeding the town.

The long distances these communities are located from regional centres, ensures that benefits from the project could be immediately obtained from video-conferencing, educational training portals, higher speed data services, and equity of services with other centres would be direct and immediate benefits of the project.

23 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 24 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Information on some of the common applications that could be delivered to the region.

Remote access to scientific equipment and services, satellite technologies and rich data intensive modelling exercises will become standard – access from anywhere to anywhere will be important. Agricultural applications, including data logging, transmission of maps and images, recording of observations may well have their source in country areas. The many scientific teams that perform research in the pristine Lake Eyre Basin system would may extremely effective use of state-of-the art telecommunications.

Equity - Provision of services for children will present new bandwidth challenges particularly in relation to access to the use of new technologies in schools. In some cases the new technologies themselves will provide new opportunities for teaching children, for instance children with disabilities.

Life Long learning - A new set of learnings and programs which students undertake outside the more academic curriculum but nonetheless still part of schooling might become more common. Programs such as drug education, counselling, work support services, and even conducting types of employment within the school will require new and additional bandwidth.

Virtual Classrooms – e.g. a French teacher living in Roma may teach French to a number of schools in the region (Jundah, Birdsville, Bedourie) Depending on the quality and functionality required, 1Mbps to 2 Mbps would be recommended for the video conferencing session.

Most schools in the region are one-teacher schools, and the ability to access teachers/subjects on line would be a critical component in experiencing new subjects.

Interoperability Cross selling of services (i.e. a client facing Government officer in a small rural town could provide services from WorkCover, the Motor Accident Incident Commission and the Fair Trading departments. Likewise in the event of an emergency in a small town, a regional network could be activated to co-ordinate the efforts of Police, the Fire Department and the local hospital. e-Health Tele-Radiology - Access to stored X-ray images, CAT-scan results and MRI-scans. High quality real-time video imaging of ultrasound and 3-D interactive brain imaging Savings in cost, travel time and unnecessary duplication of tests and procedures References: The Economic Impact of an Accelerated Rollout of Broadband in Hospitals, December 2003 – Prepared for the Australian Government, National Office for the Information Economy, by Access Economics.

“…We believe that the deployment of the proposed broadband infrastructure will facilitate the provision of value added services like HealthShare’s video telemedicine systems, which will help address the chronic issue of lack of health services to regional Australia…” eLearning

24 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 25 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

There are significant benefits achievable through broadband in particular for the Education sector. Students will progress into the work environment expecting to be able to function in a similar way.

School design - There is more and more interest in innovative schools, model schools, centres of excellence, and schools with special functions. Depending on the functions and level of the school there will be a need for different kinds of bandwidth access. As schools develop programs for students from different sectors (e.g. TAFE, apprenticeship schemes, vocational employment schemes.)

Teacher Work practices, their Workspaces and professional development - Teachers have always been remote workers. They have always taken work home, prepared lessons at home and discussed ideas with colleagues at home. The new schools will recognise that teachers need portable technology, multiple Internet and intranet access devices, mobile communications technology, secure storage spaces, reliable local printing and telecommunications services. They will need new kinds of physical spaces within the school where a more consultative approach to teaching and learning as well as staff development can be practised. All these approaches will require increasing bandwidth.

“Best –in –class” curriculum materials will use bandwidth rich technologies such as high speed streaming video and will originate from Centres of Excellence to any location. There is a move to allow some schools to specialise in particular areas of the curriculum or to specialise in particular functions. This will mean that these schools will have more specialised needs in terms of Internet and Intranet access, equipment, storage, and security. Some schools will take on specialised roles as providers of content in selected areas of the curriculum. This will require production studios, digital repositories and facilities to upload and download large quantities of data at different times of the day or night.

Business New business processes are made possible with broadband. These can have a significant effect on the way business is conducted and even completely change the status quo – e.g. the way Internet banking has allowed banks to close branches and reduce costs.

Example application - Electronic Auctions “An electronic auction site for cattle, created by the Quebec cattle producers‟ federation, allows slaughterhouses to purchase grain-fed calves and beef cattle directly on-line; 60 percent of beef cattle are now sold at electronic auction in Quebec. The selling cost for producers of grain-fed calves has dropped from CA$11 to CA$4.50 a head and the animals do not have to be shipped twice, first to the auction sale and then to the slaughterhouse” (from Networking the Nation for Broadband Access (page 22) – Industry Canada. See www.broadband.gc.ca)

25 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 26 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Companies are procuring more and more services online as this allows a greater range of suppliers and enhances price transparency, thereby saving costs. Distribution companies are making more efficient use of their fleets by using online systems to arrange for return loads when their vehicle has made a drop. For example, if a small manufacturer advertises his available loads in real-time, and a distribution company shows its vehicle locations in real-time (linked to satellite tracking systems), a match can often be found which will save both companies money, and keep unnecessary vehicle journeys to a minimum.

Community Broadband provides people in regional and rural areas with access to information and knowledge that would not otherwise be available to them. It can help reduce the socio- economic gap between rural and metro areas and reduce out-migration as a result of increased local economic opportunity and improved quality of life. Resources and expertise can be shared within communities and across regions to gain efficiencies and forge community spirit.

In addition to the above, the delivery of a digital CDMA` base station, which will include 1xRTT capability of hand-held broadband of up to 128kbs will also complement those services where mobility is crucial.

This could include health, police, and local government applications, including the transfer of files for compliance or security purposes.

Biosecurity Australia‟s place in the world market for clean green produce and goods has and will continue to provide Australia‟s economy with significant export earnings. Telecommunications infrastructure will be a vital contributor to maintaining our strict adherence to biosecurity issues. Diseases such as foot and mouth will cause massive downturns in our nation‟s economy if it ever entered. Ongoing monitoring, and as importantly, having appropriate mechanisms in place should we encounter an exotic disease, will be greatly aided by state-of-art telecommunications.

This point is emphasised by the Director of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries,

“…Biosecurity is of significant interest to DPI. Development of infrastructure in Queensland’s western corridor will enhance surveillance activities and support future innovation in this area to ensure that high quality agricultural production is not compromised. Breeches of biosecurity in this vast region would be detrimental not only to the region but have implications for markets and production across the nation. Ensuring quality communication networks is one factor in combating this area of importance...”

26 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 27 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

Natural Resource Management Linked closely to „community‟ is the issue of Natural Resource Management. Sustainable use of natural resources is one of the most important issues facing Australia. While we have witnessed some parts of our country degraded by improper practices we still retain many pristine areas. The process, of retaining these areas for future generations, involves a complex approach, none more important than effective community consultation, capacity building and empowerment. Consulting with communities over vast and remote areas involves face-to-face communication, however it is also requires benchmark communications technology. The Desert Channels Natural Resource Management Group which covers an area of 550000 square kilometres is one such group funded by Federal (Natural Heritage Trust) and State sources entrusted to ensure the natural resource is used in a manner reflective of the immediate community requirements, but also the needs of many future generations.

27 Diamantina and Barcoo Shire Councils 28 Joint Submission to the inquiry into the impact of the global financial crisis on regional Australia

END NOTES

1 Outback Queensland Development Roads Feasibility Study . Scott Wilson Nairn Pty Ltd Page 5 2 Extract from the Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy fact sheet on the Government response to The independent Regional Telecommunications Review Committee (Glasson) Report. 3 . Outback Queensland Development Roads Feasibility Study . Scott Wilson Nairn Pty Ltd Page 7

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