Newsroom

20 September, 2004

Interview Transcript

ABC Statewide Victoria, Presenter Kathy Bedford

Topic: Federal election issues

Bedford: Kathy Bedford with you here on the Statewide Morning program and we are getting to the pointy end of the election campaign. There are a couple of issues which to date have been pretty much ignored by the major parties.

Now one of those that I'm concerned about is aged care, and that's something weÕll look at in more detail later this week. The other one, I haven't heard anything on support for country Australia - growing regional towns.

In fact not once during the televised debate did either Mark Latham or John Howard utter the word regional. Hello... hello, as John Howard would say, we are here and we matter.

So today I'm asking you. You live in regional Victoria or New South Wales, what do you want to hear from our politicians? Come on, have a say, 1300 303 468. What do you want from the major political parties to help grow our country towns, to stop the exodus of young people to the city? 1300 303 468.

Well Champions of the Bush is an organisation that represents some of the major regionally based industries and Darren Chester is the Chief Executive of Champions of the Bush. He joins us this morning.

Hello Darren.

Chester: Good morning Kathy.

Bedford: Now first of all, serious business, we are in the middle of an election campaign, so it's important that we reveal your political background and you have previously worked with The Nationals and you've run as a candidate - admit it!

Chester: That's right Kathy, for my sins I've worked as a media adviser for The Nationals at both a state and federal level and I've also contested a state election in 2002. So it's probably fair to say for your listeners' interest, I'm not exactly a swinging voter but my great passion is promoting regional areas as much as possible and that's something I've been able to do with Champions of the Bush for the past 18 months or so.

Bedford: So where does Champions of the Bush sit in all of this. Which political party do they support?

Chester: Champions of the Bush is a real fence-sitter in this - we are completely apolitical. The group's day to day operations are privately funded by the members. The only time we've ever received any government funding was when we received a $40,000 grant from the Bracks Labor Governmet to help us run the Back to the Bush program earlier this year. So we're one of those groups thatÕs really interested in the future of regional areas and if you've got a good idea and it's good for country people then we're going to support it, regardless of which party puts it forward.

Bedford: So where do you think the major parties have missed the boat when it comes to the country in this Federal election campaign?

Chester: I just don't think that we've featured on the agenda to a great amount at this stage Kathy. I think you're right. Some of the issues that we've been pushing for the last 18 months haven't been getting a great amount of air play and that's probably a reflection on the media's focus on some of the bigger national issues - and they don't get right down to the regional issues, unlike your program.

From a policy perspective we're really keen on some of these issues relating to basic infrastructure in country areas - making sure we've got the roads and the bridge infrastructure, the access to natural gas, the telecommunications - and improved services in areas like health and education.

We want to make sure that if there are improvements in these areas that they actually flow through to the country towns. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to come across as a whinger from the bush, we think things are going very, very well in country areas, but if there's going to be some benefits passed around, we want to make sure that all the rural and regional areas benefit as well.

Bedford: What about the exodus of young people into the city, is that something that should be addressed at a federal level?

Chester: I think that's an enormous problem and I still don't see the political will across the board to really make some changes in that area. It's something that parents really grapple with when we have young children in country areas. We want to see opportunities for them in the future.

I think for the political parties - there's an opportunity for them to really touch on that issue and make it a feature of their policies.

It's something that I know a lot of parents talk about - what are my kids going to do once they get to teenage years - are they going to have a career in the country - are they going to have access to good education services?

So it's something that I think is a really burning issue in country areas and I'm not sure that itÕs getting the coverage that it deserves.

Bedford: Well there has been some talk about extra incentive payments for employers to take on apprentices in country areas, would that work? What do we really need to see?

Chester: There's a number of aspects to the problem and I think it comes down to mainly the education issue and healthy regional development - helping our communities to prosper so that there's jobs available for them.

It's not going to be easy - we're not going to have a university established in every country town - but there should be more opportunities for young people to perhaps remain in the country, particularly during their first year of their university courses. Maybe we can take more advantage of telecommunications - the communication technology as it comes on line.

But on the other side of things, for the young students who aren't going to go on to university we need to make sure that there's jobs available for them.

And that's all about the infrastructure development things that we talked about.

In terms of whether incentive payments work, particularly in the trades area, I'm a huge supporter of the trades Kathy and I think it's something that we are seeing more and more emphasis being placed on and greater awareness right throughout our communities.

We've got to do more to make young people realise that trades are a very real prospect for them; they are a good opportunity for them - if you're learning a trade, you're learning a skill for life.

In the past we've probably been a little bit derogatory towards the trades and there's no need to be because there's some fantastic career opportunities for young people who get involved in trades. They can go on to start their own business and they can be very successful in country communities.

Bedford: We've got a number of callers on the line, can I get you to stay with us and we're asking this morning what you want to hear from our federal politicians. We are getting to the serious end of this election campaign and haven't heard a lot so far which is specifically - I mean there's the general education, health policies - but the specific stuff for country Victoria, country NSW, country Australia. So what do you want to hear from our federal politicians?

Talkback callers

Bedford: Darren Chester is with us from Champions of the Bush - Darren is the problem in country Australia that we're just under-represented in regional communities because we've got so many city-based MPs.

Chester: It is very hard - I've worked obviously for a country Member of Parliament and it can be tough to get your message across when you are outnumbered - probably about two-to-one, in terms of city versus country.

But they've got to keep on putting up the good fight. There's no point being this tiger in the electorate and then being a tabby cat when you get to the Parliament.

We want to see our elected representatives have a real go for us. They're probably not going to win on every issue but we just want to see them stand up and be counted and just know that they are in their fighting for us all the time.

So, it's not a particularly easy job to do, but I think it's still a very important role in raising these issues, with programs like yours, through organisations like Champions of the Bush - it's just giving us a voice, having a say on the issues that really matter to country people.

Bedford: Well at the State level, the Bracks Labor Government have been pushing this Make it Happen in Provincial Victoria campaign, is that something you'd like to see at a federal level?

Chester: I think it's got a lot of potential - it's something that we've put to the Federal Government in the past, following on from the Make it Happen launch last year. I noticed some great ads in the paper again on the weekend.

It just helps to build that really positive mood, to build the excitement. I think it also instils a bit of pride in country people themselves. They say, yes we have got something to show-off, we have got something that people are envious about.

I think there's a lot of potential in that. We sometimes fall into the trap of being a bit negative about country areas, when instead of talking ourselves down, we need to keep stressing the positives about country life.

Sure we've got to discuss issues like infrastructure, health services and the education services - we can put those issues forward. But overall, we still get to enjoy an extraordinary quality of life and a lot of us wouldn't live anywhere else.

Bedford: Good on you, good to talk to you Darren.

Chester: Thanks Kathy.

Bedford: Very proud of the bush, Darren Chester is the Chief Executive of Champions of the Bush. It's 12 minutes to 10.

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