Please address all communications to: The General Manager 240 Blende Street PO Box 448 NSW 2880 Phone 08 8080 3300 Fax 08 8080 3424 [email protected] 10 March 2017 www.brokenhill.nsw.gov.au

ABN 84 873 116 132 Senate Finance and Public Administration Committees PO Box 6100 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600

Dear Sir/Madam

Broken Hill City Council submission onto the Australian Senate Inquiry into the relocation of government bodies to regional areas.

Broken Hill City Council welcomes the opportunity to promote Broken Hill as a city that welcomes any new government services that will benefit our community and our neighbouring communities in the Far West of NSW such as Tibooburra, Wilcannia, Menindee, Ivanhoe and Pooncarie.

Recent Federal and State funding and private investment into the region has resulted in significant period of activity and development that aligns with the provision of government services in Broken Hill, particularly relating to mining, agribusiness, land and water management, renewable energy, tourism and human services.

Major project funding committed to Broken Hill includes:

 $500m - NSW Government 270km Murray to Broken Hill water pipeline  $3.905m - NSW Government's Resources for Regions to transform YMCA into an Integrated Health Facility  $30m – NSW Health Broken Hill Health Service redevelopment  $200,000 – NSW Government to host an Argent Street Sculpture Symposium in 2017.

It follows other recent announcements such as $5.2m from the State's Resources for Regions program to refurbish the Civic Centre.

Private investment is also driving significant economic activity and boosting public confidence. These include:  $5.7m from the BHP Billiton Foundation (BHPBF) for the construction of new Broken Hill Archives and the Mineral and Art Intersection project.  $460m – AGL Silverton Wind Farm project that will be built in the Barrier rages near Silverton, just outside of Broken Hill. The Wind Farm will further bolster the region's renewable industry by generating up to six times the amount of electricity that the solar plant produces.  $166.7m from ARENA combined with $64.9m from the NSW Government to build the AGL Solar Plant

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Mining also continues to play a significant role in the regional economy and includes successful exploration and/or mining of gold, mineral sands, iron ore, silver, lead and zinc and potentially uranium.

During the past 12 months, three major mining companies - Carpentaria Exploration, Perilya and Consolidated Broken Hill have all announced extensions to their operations, each with minimum 10 year operational mine life.

Funding and investment of this magnitude represents a significant investment in the future of Broken Hill. Council firmly believes the city has a bright future and plenty of scope for growth and this continued investment by Government and private sector demonstrates a commitment to the future of the City.

Council also supports the recommendations of the NSW Decentralisation Taskforce Report April 2013 and the Decade of Decentralisation which aligns with Broken Hill’s Community Strategic Plan 2033 objectives including:

1. To support the development and sustainability of regional economies and communities. 2. To attract investment and skills from metropolitan Sydney to regional NSW. 3. To increase the opportunities for local communities in regional NSW to participate in Government decision-making.

Broken Hill is also open to the option of partial agency and co-location of services and core business functions that demonstrate a natural fit with the communities in regional locations.

Broken Hill City Council Council's role in economic development is to provide leadership and direction, partnering with other agencies to facilitate, encourage and maximise sustainable development economic opportunities with the expectation that the business will directly or, in some agreed circumstances, indirectly provide increases employment opportunities for residents of Broken Hill.

Broken Hill The City of Broken Hill is the largest regional centre in the western half of . It lies in the centre of the New South Wales , close to the South Australian border and midway between the Queensland and Victorian borders.

Broken Hill is a leader in remote community resilience; where the community unite to tackle problems and a global perspective is applied to deliver broad prospects for economic participation.

Our community understands the importance of economic diversity to guarantee a sustainable future for the City. A sustainable economy was by far the largest priority identified through the 2013 community consultative process, further acknowledging that diversification is the ‘key’ to addressing challenges associated with the contraction of the mining industry.

With a slow decline in population (19,915 in 2005 to 18,856 in 2015) the emphasis the community has given towards a sustainable economy recognises the imperative to innovate, problem solve and create new opportunity in order to remain relevant in a global environment that is marked by rapid social and technological change.

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In recent years, Broken Hill has had to suffer the loss of government services in the City. The most recent being the government’s announcement in 2015 that the Broken Hill office of NSW Trustee and Guardian would close and that the services could be accessed through its Dubbo office via telephone or internet. Following Council and stakeholder advocacy to save this service, the government overturned its decision and the NSW Trustee and Guardian is now co-located with other state government agencies at the Roads and Maritime Service but with a reduction of some of the services available, these are now accessed via the internet. Prior to this, the Juvenile Justice Centre in Broken Hill was closed with these services also relocated to Dubbo.

In order to diversify the City’s economy, the community identified strategies that reflect a commitment and determination to expand our thinking and adapt to remain relevant in the world as it is today. This means building on existing economic platforms, like art, culture and tourism, and on new opportunities such as technology, renewable energies and education.

The case for relocation of services to Broken Hill

1. Opportunity to reduce commercial property and housing pressures in urban locations. 2. Broken Hill has lower commercial rental prices than in major centres and there is an availability of commercial office space. 3. Broken Hill boasts housing affordability for workers relocating – the median house price is $117,000. 4. Modern technology and globalisation opportunities – Broken Hill City Council has adopted a Smart Community Framework. The adoption of the transformational opportunities offered by smart community initiatives and making investments in smart technologies will advance the strategy and corporate goals of Broken Hill, and make the region an even better place to live, work, play and invest. 5. Travel pressure - decentralising services can provide employment for people much closer to where they live, easing the pressure on traffic in urban areas and improving lifestyle. Decentralisation to a more spacious, convenient location could improve this measure immensely.

The Regional Development Australia Far West Regional Prospectus 2016 realises the strength of Broken Hill and region to attract and support the relocation of business.

Skilled Workforce The Far West has established a reputation for having a highly skilled and motivated workforce across a range of sectors, which is available to enable an easy transition for business relocation. Organisations in the Far West have successfully attracted key senior staff over sustained periods, who seek the idyllic regional lifestyle. Currently, the largest employers for the region are Health and Community Services, Education, Retail and the Agri-business sectors. The workforce is supported through well-established and reputable local recruitment agencies that provide a broad range of recruitment and Human Resource Management support including labour hire services. The region is home to excellent schools and training providers working constantly with industry to ensure they meet future requirements and deliver best practice, innovative and practical training outcomes. The Far West has collaborated with industry over many years to develop Vocational Education and Training (VET) pathways in our secondary schools to ensure we are training our future workforce with relevant and valued skills. Students are studying a variety of Vocational pathways from a cross section of industries including Primary Industries, Health, Engineering, Construction, Information Technology, Media, Retail and the Services sector.

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Transport and Access to Markets The Far West is located on the transcontinental railway with close and existing access to ports in Adelaide and across South Australia. It is serviced by air services to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Mildura and is centrally located with road access to major capital cities, including Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. With mining remaining strong, manufacturing increasing and the visitor economy growing, opportunities exist for the development of significant transport hubs to link road, rail and air freight.

Significant Mineral Wealth As the birthplace of BHP the region has significant mineral wealth, exploration is ongoing and new mineral deposits are being discovered. Current projects include mining of iron ore, gold, mineral sands, and the sun – through the AGL Solar Plant. The Regional Development Australia Far West NSW Regional Plan 2013-2033 identifies continued support for mining and exploration in Far West NSW is an important activity. Regional support for mining offers scope for more certainty and cost containment in moving from exploration to development with relatively easy access to exploration areas, limited if any opposition to mining activities and access to locally based contractors and employees in some cases.

Ideal Climatic Condition The climate in the Far West allows for early harvest of produce, including stone and citrus fruits, olives, herbs, native bush foods and a large variety of flowers suitable for the floriculture industry. The dry warm climate that lends itself to numerous storage and warehousing options including aircraft storage.

Renewable Energy Broken Hill has one of the highest levels of solar radiation in NSW, making it an ideal location for a solar power plant. The Broken Hill Solar Plant, occupies approximately 140 hectares and consist of over 650,000 solar PV modules making the plant the second largest solar farm in the Southern Hemisphere with the capacity to supply clean power to a significant number of homes and businesses across the State. The Silverton Wind Farm, due for construction in 2017, has the potential to be the largest on-shore wind project in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest in the world. With a potential operational capacity of up to 1,000MW, the wind farm could generate up to 4.5% of New South Wales' current total power consumption. This is equivalent to the energy consumption of over 430,000 NSW homes.

Affordable residential and commercial property The availability and affordability of commercial and industrial land is attractive to potential start-up companies and existing professional organisations looking to relocate some or all of their business to more affordable locations. Affordability and rental return possibilities, coupled with extremely low vacancy rates of the residential property market has made the region an attractive option for investors from across the country.

Agribusiness Agriculture is a well-established industry in the Far West region. An abundance of land coupled with suitable climatic conditions has played a central role in the region’s historical growth and development, including suitability for a variety of agriculture including horticulture (stone fruits, citrus, roses, table grapes), and livestock (such as cattle, sheep and goats), as well as cotton, barley and wheat. The agricultural sector accounts for approximately 11% of the area’s Gross Regional Product, 6% of its employment and 20% of its exports. Traditionally, agriculture was largely based around pastoral activities such as wool production. Horticulture production has long been established as a significant contributor to the region’s economy. Cont’d…

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Growth opportunities to expand and diversify production and increase value added processes are abundant. The sector has been developing cotton, malting grains, grapes and stone fruits and in non-irrigation areas, pastoralists have diversified into goat and sheep meat production. Due to the region’s hot, dry climate, high quality fruits such as grapes and peaches can be harvested many weeks before many competing regions.

Manufacturing Expertise and Experience  With 130 years of servicing the mining industry the region has developed significant skills in the manufacturing sector  A long history of training highly competent and professional tradespeople

Tourism and Visitor Economy  Significant growth over a long period of time  Major contributor to the region’s economy  Unique location boasting iconic National Parks and mining and Australian industrial history  High on many peoples bucket list of must see location  Considerable opportunity for product development

Film, TV and Arts Industries  Long history in the Film and TV industry  Iconic location with a vast array of landscapes to meet every requirement  Industry expertise and experience  Long history of the Arts, birthplace of Pro Hart and the ‘Brushmen of the Bush’

Access to o Market

Railway Broken Hill is uniquely located in the Far Western region of NSW on the transcontinental railway with access to the vast rail network operating between Sydney and Perth. Rail freight has been the traditional and major method of transporting mining exports from the region and a direct rail line connects Broken Hill with Port Pirie in South Australia. Major rail providers also operate a freight service between the Cristal Separation Plan in Broken Hill and Port Adelaide.

Road While remote the region is certainly not isolated with road access to five capital cities within a day’s drive and easy access to a variety of ports including Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Port Adelaide.

Air Daily flights to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Mildura and Dubbo air access to and from the region is easy.

Again, I reiterate Broken Hill City Council’s position in supporting the recommendation of the Australian Senate Inquiry into the relocation of government bodies to regional areas.

Yours faithfully

DARRIEA TURLEY MAYOR

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