Regional
investment
Champions
of the Bush supports measures to retain capital in country areas. People's
savings are currently being drained out of country Australia. Regional
contributions to compulsory superannuation funds (per year) are:
Victoria
- $1 billion
NSW - $1.9 billion
Qld - $1.7 billion
Tas -$221 million (excluding Hobart)
NT - $92 million
WA - $469 million
SA - $348 million
Total $5.73 billion.
Most
of this money is invested in metropolitan and overseas equities. If
just 5% was invested in regional areas, that would deliver a $25 billion
boost across Australia. Champions of the Bush supports the Australian
Regional Investment Plan and calls on the Commonwealth Government to
adopt the plan. A key feature is enabling the creation of local bonds
as an investment vehicle for regional infrastructure projects.
Back
to the Bush - Celebrating Regional Life
Early
in 2004, Champions of the Bush launched a promotion in regional Victoria
called Back to the Bush.
The
project aimed to encourage country people to invite their city-based
friends and family to visit on the Labour Day long weekend.
It
was designed as a celebration of life in regional Victoria, and an opportunity
to showcase the great opportunities to live, work and invest outside
of metropolitan areas.
Full
details on the program can be viewed at: www.backtothebush.com.au
Regional Investment Opportunities.
Australia
faces an increasing divide between the capital cities and regional areas
caused by the on-going disparity in infrastructure investment. Two previous
pieces of work undertaken for the Federal Government highlight this
problem, and the consequent "Regional Partnerships" program
is seeking proposals to improve access to finance for regional business.
Firstly,
in the forward to a report by the Federal Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Primary Industries and Regional Services in February 2000, Committee
Chair Fran Bailey stated that: "Without action to stop the reduction
of services still occurring throughout many areas and a new focus for
investment in regional Australia, we face the danger of Australia being
divided into "two nations", those in the metropolitan area
and some large provincial areas continue to gain improved access to
all areas of infrastructure and, in particular telecommunications, while
those in the traditional heartland of regional and rural Australia face
the prospect of declining access to many services and a lack of improvement
in infrastructure".
In
the second, by an independent expert business panel known as the "Regional
Business Development Analysis panel" in 2003, the Minister John
Anderson was advised by its Chair John Keniry that: "Regional Australia
has made and continues to make a major contribution to our national
economy and to our way of life, indeed to our culture and our identity
as a nation. Regional businesses contribute half of our national export
income and regional Australians have a fine track record as innovators.
Our future prosperity and social well-being as a nation depends to a
significant degree on creating the right environment for thriving and
dynamic regional businesses." And further stated: "There has
been enough talk-regional Australians need action now. We look forward
to seeing the timely implementation of the actions in this Plan. Governments,
the finance and wider business sectors, together with regional businesses
and their local communities, must now demonstrate their commitment to
realising the full potential of our unique and diverse regions, for
the benefit of all Australians."
Regional
Investment Opportunities (RIO) seeks to raise the profile of these issues,
and use our collective ability to work proactively with government to
encourage an increase investment in regional infrastructure projects.
Many regard the provision of competitive infrastructure as critical
to the regions maintaining their commercial contribution to the nation.
Demographic analysis currently demonstrates that the so called "seachange
- tree change - tee change" phenomenon to be real, with people
first making living environment decisions before looking for appropriate
employment opportunities. When real jobs in the regions are necessary
to stem a flow of young people to the capital cities, there are evolving
business opportunities being stifled by the lower levels of investment
in infrastructure in new growth areas.
A
key reason for the persistence of the "two nation" divide
in Australia is capital market failure: the lack of available investment
vehicles and instruments appropriate to the infrastructure needs of
regional communities. Investment arrangements such as public private
partnerships (PPP's) that have been used to encourage private sector
investment in large scale metropolitan infrastructure such as roads,
bridges, tunnels, railway, and airport terminals are not appropriate
to the provision of infrastructure in regional areas. This is because
regional infrastructure requirements are usually of a small-scale, local
nature. They include the building of a natural gas spur line, repairing
a bridge or the construction of a water treatment plant. The capital
required for these projects is commonly less than $20m. While large-scale
metropolitan projects of $200m or more can usually source their capital
from traditional markets, it is often difficult for local communities
and authorities in regional areas to generate funds for small-scale
infrastructure. The projects are simply too small to attract the attention
of the major fund managers.
Numerous
initiatives over the past decade have looked at these small scale projects
in attempts to assist them to be more "investment ready".
Insufficient structures exist in regional areas to develop these project
proposals for investment consideration, let alone their on-going financial
management. The three tiers of government can only assist and ensure
appropriate regulation. It is beholden upon the capital market and these
local communities to achieve a better mutual understanding of what each
requires, and establish proper structures for these small scale infrastructure
projects to be undertaken.
Champions
of the Bush regards investment into regional Business and Infrastructure
as the most critical issue facing the future of Regional Australia and
the sustainable living environment of regional communities. Whilst there
are many additional challenges confronting these communities, without
Business and Infrastructure there will be no employment, no local economy,
and greater isolation and human disenfranchisement. As such the member
companies of COTB seek to make a commitment of seed funding to establish
an infrastructure investment initiative, and create partnerships with
regional communities and the investment institutions.
Download
a PDF of the Regional Investment Opportunities Letter.
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