John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this motion by the member for Indi. Australia, through a lack of forward planning, has entered a period of lower than optimal growth. This is characterised by the imbalance between our major urban areas and regional areas, highlighted by the strange anomaly that a country whose greatest asset is land suffers from some of the highest priced real estate in the world, in its major cities. This imbalance has seen our major cities outgrow their infrastructure—compromising their efficiency, productivity and quality of life—while regional areas have suffered decline in their economies, leading to higher levels of unemployment then flight. This imbalance, while producing very high costs of living in major cities, has resulted in comparatively inexpensive housing in regional areas and therefore, while our cities are often priced out of the market, there is now the opportunity for regional areas to take this cheaper cost of living as a significant competitive advantage. There is ample evidence that living costs in our major cities are creating a two-priced economy and therefore exposing an opportunity for competitive advantages for regional areas.

The northern Australia initiative of this government is a magnificent example of big-picture vision—strategically utilising a non-performing asset to provide for the needs of the burgeoning middle class of Asia. This initiative will develop the vast regions of northern Australia to provide, in a timely way, for our strongest trading partners. This is a policy that is considerate of climate change and the need for adaptation, and furthermore is an initiative of pure growth. This project is complemented by evidence-based policies informed by a broad suite of white papers, a record $50 billion investment in infrastructure that will improve connectivity to our regional areas, and investment in small-scale infrastructure projects through the $1 billion National Stronger Regions Fund to create job opportunities and enhance liveability in regional communities. Further untapped opportunities lying closer to our urban areas should be explored. As Australia has become increasingly urbanised, the regions have suffered. Our capacity to grow and our potential growth have been and are being constrained by our major cities' ability to accommodate this growth. The cost of retrofitting infrastructure and the acquisition of land or tunnelling are significant factors that constrain growth in our cities. And when growth does occur it occurs at a very high cost. The corridor between Melbourne and Sydney and the surrounding regions of these cities offer strategically positioned regional development opportunities of a scale and duration that can provide optimum sustainable growth, at very low cost, for generations. This is an opportunity that should not be ignored but at the same time requires deep consideration.

Historically, Australia and its cities have not been the beneficiary of any strategic planning whatsoever, resulting in an extraordinary imbalance between our cities and regions, and our cities being congested, expensive and inefficient. It is time to plan our future, for the liberation and full realisation of the potential of our regions, while the retrofitting of infrastructure to facilitate urban renewal and densification is undertaken.

The member for Indi has regularly informed the House of the disparity in wages between her constituents and their city cousins. This is also reflected by a significantly lower proportion of regional and remote adults completing bachelor qualifications—around 17 per cent compared to over 32 per cent in the city. Simple inputs will produce a simple output, not necessarily an enlightened one. Enabling people to make an informed decision about where it is best to live and where it is best to operate their businesses requires more than just a comparison of wages. Regional areas have, based on a real competitive advantage being realised, a great opportunity to attract business investment and people.

A competitive advantage is determined when wages are placed into an equation with cost of living and quality of life. It is not difficult to develop an index, based on a full suite of factors, to determine which regional area offers the best bottom line for investment and families. These calculations may challenge the Einsteins, but luckily you do not have to be an Einstein to work out that, when you are being paid 80 per cent of what you may be paid in Sydney or Melbourne and when housing values are less than 30 per cent, it is a better result for your bottom line. Only when this is commonly realised will the regions reverse the trend of recent decades and play a vital part in Australia attaining its optimal growth and playing at full strength.

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