In 2017, the House of Representatives established a Select Committee of parliamentarians, to investigate best practice Regional Development and Decentralisation in Australia’s non-metropolitan regions. Simultaneously, they formed an Expert Panel of advisors, of which UNE’s Adjunct Professor Tony Sorensen is a member, to comment on the findings of a series of meetings held in regional centres across Australia and suggest how policy across all tiers of government might be improved to deliver effective regional development and how such policy might engage both the private sector and the broader community.
Tony Sorensen has just attended the second meeting of the Expert Panel and the Select Committee at Parliament House in Canberra held on 28th March. He found it a vibrant and constructive experience in a policy arena which is simultaneously of great relevance to rural Australia and also one of the most difficult policy arenas confronting government. The latter condition reflects the huge diversity of regional communities in terms of their resource bases, environmental conditions, population densities, infrastructures, remoteness, and leadership qualities. Simultaneously, national or international economic considerations frequently overwhelm regional sentiment and options.
Wednesday’s session was chaired by Damian Drum, member for Murray in Victoria, and the other seven members of the Select Committee broadly reflect the political and geographical composition of Parliament. A full report of the meeting will eventually be published by Hansard.