Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to congratulate the committee.

Leave granted.

You will enjoy the contribution. I genuinely do want to congratulate members of the committee on both sides of the House. I have had many long conversations with the member for Paterson, who tells me the committee has worked very much in a bipartisan way. It's been a hardworking committee, with a lot of travel involved. I'm not sure the member for Paterson still likes me, because, when I asked her to do the job of being the deputy chair of what I thought was an important inquiry, not even I realised how much work and travel would be involved.

I remind the House that the committee very much grew out of the controversy over the forced relocation of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to Armidale, but thankfully it was broadened to encapsulate regional development more generally. I'm delighted to hear the member say—my goodness! I can't remember your seat for some reason!

Mr Ramsey interjecting—

Grey—thank you. Grey, of course. The member for Grey said it is complex and there are no silver bullets. That is absolutely true.

I note the reference the member for Paterson made to the work of the Regional Australia Institute, where it outlined the key drivers of growth in the regions. But it is also a reminder—and I won't abuse the indulgence of the leave that has been given—that there are no quick fixes. A political campaign—to somehow try to convince regional communities that the world would be their oyster if only a government agency or part of a government agency moved to their local area—can do no harm, but it can do harm to the agency and the agency's work. We don't create jobs in Australia by moving jobs from one place to another. And with respect to Canberra, when you move agencies out of Canberra, then you're impacting on all those regional communities around Canberra who are having somewhat of a renaissance as they become commuter towns, as residents go to and from Canberra on a daily basis.

I hope we as a parliament can move past the spin and the rhetoric about decentralisation. All agree we can embrace it where it can be done without adverse impact on the agency, entity or regulator involved, but also recognise that it's not about moving jobs from one place to another; it's about tapping into the key drivers of economic growth in the regions—and, importantly, promoting leadership. The RRI also told us, in some case studies, that the difference between some successful regions and not-so-successful regions or cities is the strength of community leadership. But if we're going to have stronger regions—and we all want that—we have to have all levels of government working together. We certainly have to work in a bipartisan manner, and I'm very pleased the committee is doing that. I lament the fact that so many have had to leave the committee, but, of course, that's the fault of no-one. I hope the committee, with this extension, can get on with its work and make some substantial policy recommendations.

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