Commonwealth of Australia Select Committee on Jobs for the Future in Regional Areas
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Commonwealth of Australia Select Committee on Jobs for the Future in Regional Areas 6 September 2019 Julia Creek | McKinlay Shire Council 1 Introduction This report is McKinlay Shire’s response to the Senate Commission’s request to provide information and insights into the future of jobs and employment opportunities in regional Australia. The report highlights several of the past, current and future challenges in regards to employment the rural community of McKinlay Shire faces. It also addresses opportunities and the need to diversify the activities to ensure continued investments in the local community. Employment opportunities have to be supported by a sustainable base of locals that is able to supply sufficient labour. In other words, population attraction and retention and renewability are essential to sustain local economic development. However, as a remote outback Shire, the forecasts of population growth are negative even in the best-case scenarios. Combined with the existential threat of natural disasters, the high levels of reliance on two volatile sectors, and sheer size of the Shire, potential investments come with a high cost and high-risk connotation which may limit private investment. In order to retain population, Council and other stakeholders should take away or reduce barriers that lead to limitations. Primary services like housing, health care, education and employment opportunities are essential in facilitating people to stay – or least preventing them from having to leave. The outback itself is appealing enough for people to stay or come and live there. As a resources and agriculture orientated Shire, we are vulnerable to external forces and threats that are beyond our control. Going forward, McKinlay Shire Council emphasises that significant collaboration on multiple levels is necessary to create a sustainable future. As many other Councils face similar challenges, the solutions should emphasise scalability, flexibility and adaptability to fit a broad range of recipients. Invitation from Commonwealth of Australia – Senate Commission The committee will inquire and report on the following matters: a. new industries and employment opportunities that can be created in the regions; b. the number of existing jobs in regional areas in clean energy technology and ecological services and their future significance; c. lessons learned from structural adjustments in the automotive, manufacturing and forestry industries and energy privatisation and their impact on labour markets and local economies; d. the importance of long-term planning to support the diversification of supply chain industries and local economies; e. measures to guide the transition into new industries and employment, including: i. community infrastructure to attract investment and job creation; ii. the need for a public authority to manage the transition; iii. meaningful community consultation to guide the transition; and iv. the role of vocational education providers, including TAFE, in enabling reskilling and retraining; f. the use of renewable resources in Northern Australia to build a clean energy export industry to export into Asia; and g. any related matters. 2 Contents Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................2 Invitation from Commonwealth of Australia – Senate Commission................................................2 1. Recommendations..........................................................................................................................4 2. The McKinlay Shire at a glance .......................................................................................................4 3. Challenges.......................................................................................................................................6 3.1 Population Retention and Demographics...............................................................................6 3.2 Housing & Population Attraction............................................................................................6 3.3 Extreme Weather Events........................................................................................................6 3.4 Healthcare & Social and Digital Connectedness .....................................................................7 3.5 Resilience and Sustainability of the Local Economy ...............................................................7 3.6 Seasonality & volatility in revenues for local businesses........................................................8 3.7 Tourism...................................................................................................................................8 4. Opportunities .................................................................................................................................8 4.1 Sustainable Economic Development & Collaboration ............................................................8 4.2 Business Model Innovation & Education ................................................................................9 4.3 Digital Innovation and Connectedness .................................................................................10 4.4 Renewables, Resources Recovery & Sustainability...............................................................10 4.5 Resources Research in Mining..............................................................................................10 4.6 Tourism – Operations & Ownership .....................................................................................10 5. Long Term Planning ......................................................................................................................11 3 1. Recommendations The sheer size of the challenges, the financial investments attached and the similarity of those challenges in outback Queensland’s Shires, demands a collective approach on multiple levels both public and private. Supported by public financial relief, private investments and Council assets, the way forward is recommended to be collaborative of nature. Create Tax Offset Benefits to include seasonality for all local businesses in regional or rural Australia to help smooth the payable taxes and thus create a financial incentive for businesses to invest; Financial incentives with private companies – such as insurance companies and banks – to facilitate private investments in sectors Tourism, Resources & Mining, Waste management and Energy by allowing for mitigation of premiums and/or upfront investment requirements; Government to expand Health Care Services both in frequency and type with private/charity companies (RFDS, Allied Health) State and Federal Government to lead the way in providing housing opportunities by allowing locals in regional areas to use part of their salary package to be used to pay for a mortgage down payment e.g. Private companies to commit to sourcing locally in labour, services and supplies with agreements in place as part of the approvals process. Provide financial incentives on a gliding scale with lower taxes or costs if they source more locally Council to continue to expand access to services in collaboration with IT provides (Telstra, Optus), local businesses (apprenticeships), State Government NWQLD region to invest locally and share the costs and benefits regarding economic development opportunities. Sharing the costs of investing and subsequently the returns would support collective thinking and collaboration Regional Development with MITEZ, RDA to be turned up a notch with dedicated funds going to providing solutions to current barriers Assess State and Federal legislation how to create financial incentives that comply with the recommendations and ensure application of the incentives. These recommendations are explored further below whilst also providing the context of the McKinlay Shire Council and the community. 2. The McKinlay Shire at a glance McKinlay Shire Council (MSC) serves as the Local Government Authority (LGA) to govern and manage the natural assets, infrastructure and other services and facilities provided to the community. The Shire is located in North West Queensland 250km east of Mount Isa and 650km west of Townsville along the Overlander’s Way or the Flinders Highway. Julia Creek has been named one of the hottest places of Queensland with an annual average temperature exceeding 36 degrees. Rainfall is generally limited to the months January – March but, as the floods of 2019 have shown, rainfall can be severe and persistent. The Shire is approx. 41,500km2 in size and rests upon the Great Artesian Basin which provides naturally heated water sources to the residents and facilities. The water in Julia Creek is cooled 4 down via the Water Tower, a landmark facility visible over 20km away in every direction. The Shire’s economy – Gross Regional Product (GRP) – was estimated to be around $386 million in the years 2015-2016 and is expected to have fallen sharply in the last financial years1 due to the extensive loss of cattle, damages to properties, and lack of visitors over the first 6 months of 2019. The Shire’s main economic activities are; Agriculture, Mining and Tourism. Agriculture Mainly beef cattle and sheep are kept at the many stations the Shire has. Either family-owned or corporate-led, the stations provide a significant portion of beef cattle which is mostly destined to be exported overseas. Mining With one of the world’s largest