cities beyond perth - regional australia · 2016-04-06 · regional cities with high economic...
TRANSCRIPT
Level 2, 53 Blackall Street
Barton ACT 2600
02 6260 3733
www.regionalaustralia.org.au
Cities Beyond Perth Best bets for growth in a new economic environment
Executive Summary
January 2015
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 P a g e | i
The Regional Australia Institute
Independent and informed by both research and ongoing dialogue with the community, the
Regional Australia Institute (RAI) develops policy and advocates for change to build a stronger
economy and better quality of life in regional Australia – for the benefit of all Australians.
Disclaimer and Copyright
This research report translates and analyses findings of research to enable an informed public
discussion of regional issues in Australia. It is intended to assist people to think about their
perspectives, assumptions and understanding of regional issues. No responsibility is accepted
by the RAI, its Board or its funders for the accuracy of the advice provided or for the quality
of advice or decisions made by others based on the information presented in this publication.
Unless otherwise specified, the contents of this report remain the property of the Regional
Australia Institute. Reproduction for non-commercial purposes with attribution of authorship is
permitted.
RAI Research and Policy
Project researcher: Annemarie Ashton-Wyatt, Senior Researcher
Project supervisor: Jack Archer, Deputy CEO
Contributing to research content and review:
Su McCluskey, Chief Executive Officer
Jennie Dwyer, Policy Advisor
Morgan Rennie, Researcher
Tai Nguyen, Researcher
All RAI research is informed by the expertise of the RAI Research Advisory Committee.
Members in 2014/15 are:
Professor Sandra Harding, James Cook University (Chair)
Professor Andrew Beer, University of Adelaide
Professor Graeme Hugo, University of Adelaide
Professor John Tomaney, University College of London
Tim Shackleton, Director, Virtual Health
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 Page | ii
Research Partnership
This research has been funded through a partnership between the Regional Australia Institute
and the Department of Regional Development, Western Australia.
Executive Reference Group:
Tim Shackleton, Regional Development Council of Western Australia
Mike Rowe, Department of Regional Development
Su McCluskey, Regional Australia Institute
Project Steering Committee:
Ken King, Pilbara Regional Development Commission (Chair)
Richard Hancock, Pilbara Development Commission
Bruce Manning, Great Southern Development Commission
Janine Hatch, Wheatbelt Development Commission
Grant Arthur, Wheatbelt Development Commission
John Acres, Department of Regional Development
Denis O’Donovan, Department of Regional Development
Jack Archer, Regional Australia Institute
Acknowledgements
The RAI acknowledges the following people and organisations who have contributed
feedback and ideas during the development of this report:
Aboriginal Workforce Development Centre, Department of Training and Workforce Development
The Busselton Chamber of Commerce and Industry
City of Albany City of Busselton City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder City of Mandurah Department of Corrective Services Department of Training and Workforce
Development Goldfields Esperance Development Commission Great Southern Development Commission Kimberley Development Commission FarmWorx Fiona McKenzie, Department of Planning and Community Development, Victoria
Gascoyne Development Commission
Goldfields-Esperance Development Commission Mid West Development Commission Peel Development Commission Pilbara Development Commission Regional Development Council, Western Australia
RDA Goldfields Esperance
RDA Great Southern RDA Kimberley RDA Mid West Gascoyne RDA Peel Rio Tinto RSM Bird Cameron Shaddicks Lawyers Shire of Carnarvon South West Development Commission The West Australian Regional Newspapers Wheatbelt Development Commission Workforce Education
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 P a g e | 1
Executive Summary
Regions in Western Australia are in a period of transition as the highs of the resources boom
start to diminish. To be successful in this transitional period, regional Western Australia will
need to look to its fundamental competitive advantages and how they relate to a changing
economic environment.
As a result of recent growth, Western Australia has acquired a new source of potential
competitive advantage in the network of larger regional towns and cities across each region.
More than half of the regional population now lives in the 12 largest regional towns and cities
located across each of the nine regions in Western Australia.
These towns and cities offer relatively diverse employment opportunities and many have
grown significantly in recent years. Some are reaching 15,000 residents, which is an important
threshold for long term sustainable development. Others are moving towards becoming
regional cities with high economic capacity, due to a population size of 50,000 or more.
Many of Western Australia’s largest regional centres have only recently reached these growth
milestones and are considering how best to leverage the new opportunities this scale provides.
Significant investment through Royalties for Regions and related initiatives has also changed
the quality of infrastructure available in many of these regional locations.
This report has considered how best to leverage this new source of competitive advantage for
regional Western Australia.
Why Focus on Developing the Largest Regional Centres in Western Australia?
Western Australia’s largest regional centres are worth developing because they:
Provide a greater diversity and quality of services for residents and visitors than
smaller locations. Factors such as market size, workforce diversity, and access to
innovation supports are attractors for entrepreneurship and investment. This enables
sophisticated economies to develop and supports an independent growth pathway;
Are a focus point for key infrastructure such as ports, airports, and major roads that
enable connections to markets for regional Western Australia; and
Are hubs for services to meet the needs of the region’s population and industries. Many
provide a central base for the delivery of health, education and other government
services.
As a result of their size and position in each region’s economy these places play a unique role
in enabling the development of regional Western Australia. Their development should be a
priority within the wider regional development strategy for Western Australia.
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 Page | 2
Four Development Pathways
The Regional Australia Institute’s (RAI) analysis suggests that four different pathways exist that
require a different development approach:
1. Old towns with city-sized opportunities (Albany, Bunbury, Busselton and Geraldton)
Each of these places has an existing population size, diversity of industry and
available infrastructure to provide a foundation for future growth pathways. Capacity
for local innovation, technological readiness and human capital needs to be further
developed to secure these opportunities.
2. Places growing through connected lifestyles (Mandurah and the proposed Avon City)
Proximity to the Perth metropolitan area offers on-going avenues for future population
and economic growth, as residents can have easy access to the city and enjoy regional
living, but this also creates pressures. Development of the local workforce and business
capacity alongside infrastructure and population development will be critical for
building economic growth in the future. The challenge will be to build deeper
connections to the metropolitan area and still maintain a regional identity.
3. Areas well-positioned to access the new global markets (Broome, Carnarvon, Kununurra)
Prospects for new economic growth exist in these places by aligning their unique
natural resources with new domestic and international market opportunities in
agribusiness and tourism. Securing resource access and investment in the development
of these resources will be essential to realise these opportunities. The support and
leadership of local people and local businesses will also help to enable growth.
4. Boom towns in transition (Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Karratha City, Port Hedland)
Rapid growth during the resources boom has created opportunities in these towns and
cities. Future stability and growth will depend on forming effective local responses to
the structural changes in the resources sector. It will be essential to manage adjustment
to demand for local services and workers from the resources sector. In addition, growth
will need to identify opportunities in non-resources sectors to diversify the economy
and reduce the potential impacts of structural change.
Each of these locations has experienced both opportunities and challenges from the resources
boom, but this driver of the Western Australian economy is changing. Key commodity prices
often have cycles of decline after periods of growth, and the demand for labour reduces as
large projects transition from construction to production phases. Accordingly, demand for
workers and services in the resources sector (and related regional areas) is likely to soften.
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 P a g e | 3
A Western Australian Regional City Strategy: Growing Cities Beyond Perth
Given the growth in these regional centres, there is now a strong case for implementing a
specific regional development strategy for these places (Figure 1). The outcome of this
approach should be an established, resilient and growing network of regional cities across
Western Australia.
Common Priorities for Regional Centres
The heart of a regional cities strategy should be region-led initiatives that are focused on:
Services to the region. Large regional centres have a service provider role with the
wider region. This long-standing source of competitive advantage is being disrupted
by technology, better travel options and globalised supply chains. Western Australia’s
largest regional centres must understand and respond to the changing demand for its
services from the wider region through innovative development strategies;
Lifestyle. Western Australia’s largest regional centres offer a unique lifestyle and this is
a core source of competitive advantage. These centres must continue to build local
lifestyle advantages that will attract and retain residents for the long term;
Expanding markets to capture customers from beyond the region. Western Australia’s
largest regional centres have competitive specialisations reflecting the regional
economy. Each centre should encourage local businesses to seek market opportunities
beyond the region to increase resilience to economic changes; and
Targeting emerging growth opportunities. Western Australia’s largest regional centres
need to actively pursue new opportunities in areas like agribusiness, tourism and
education that can offset reduced demand from the resources sector or provide new
sources of growth.
To leverage competitive advantages across the network there is also a need for the State
Government to work with the network of regional centres to:
Improve human capital performance. This is an area where regional centres must be
competitive. It remains an area of significant challenge for many of Western
Australia’s largest regional centres at present;
Ensure resource access and use arrangements are responsive to new sources of demand.
New demand for resource access and use is shifting from the resources sector to
agriculture and tourism. The State Government will need to work with regions to ensure
new demand to be met sustainably; and
Broker competing demands within the network. Places have similar priorities which could
lead to unhelpful competition for resources and undermine collaborative development.
The State Government will need to work to broker between these demands to provide
the best outcomes for the State as a whole.
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 Page | 4
Collaborative Opportunities
Given the common challenges and opportunities within the group of Western Australia’s
largest regional centres, building inter-city collaboration is also essential. Areas where
collaboration should be prioritised include in developing:
The regional knowledge sector across Albany, Bunbury, Busselton and Geraldton;
Services and amenities for different lifestyle groups in Mandurah and the proposed
Avon City;
Complementary events and activity based tourism in Albany, Bunbury, Busselton and
Geraldton;
Cooperative pursuit of new agribusiness and tourism market opportunities in Broome,
Carnarvon and Kununurra;
Incubation of non-resource businesses in Karratha, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Port
Hedland; and
Development of specialist networks to leverage mining services business beyond
regional Western Australia in Karratha, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Port Hedland.
Together these initiatives will provide the foundation for leveraging the comparative
advantages of Western Australia’s largest regional towns and cities.
Old towns with city-sized opportunities
Places growing through connected lifestyles
Areas well-positioned for growth in new global markets Boom towns in transition
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 P a g e | v
Figure 1:Regional city development framework
Cities Beyond Perth: Building an established, resilient and growing network of regional cities in Western Australia
• Grow connectivity to Perth
• Pursue areas of competitiveness in retail and services sectors
• Manage developmental pressure to secure regional
identity
Population and economic changes are shifting opportunities for
regions in Western Australia
• Secure access to land and water resources
• Support Indigenous economic engagement
• Facilitate new opportunities for agri-business
• Develop tourism markets
• Engage markets for resource services beyond the region
• Expand non-resources industries
• Support Indigenous
economic engagement
• Develop a highly skilled and flexible labour force
• Meet regional export industry needs
• Expand the local knowledge-based industry
But, large regional centres do not all have the same pathways for growth. Four groups with different imperatives exist across Western Australia:
Old Towns with City-Sized
Opportunities
Albany Bunbury Busselton
Geraldton
Places Growing Through Connected
Lifestyles
Mandurah and the
proposed
Avon City
Areas Primed to Access New
Global Markets Broome
Carnarvon
Kununurra
Boom Towns in
Transition Kalgoorlie Karratha City
Port Hedland
Regional
knowledge sector
Services and amenities for
different lifestyle groups
New agribusiness Tourism market opportunities
Diversification in resources
communities
Events and activity based tourism Indigenous business development
Common opportunities are best pursued in collaboration. Business innovation networks offer practical pathways for cities with common issues to work together
Respond to changing demand for services to the region
Realise lifestyle advantages through population mobility
Link to new growth drivers through emerging market opportunities
Encourage specialist business groups to grow markets outside of region
Regions canHelp grow human capital performance in regions
Facilitate resource access and use arrangements
Broker inter-regional competition for resources
State government
can
Cities Beyond Perth (Executive Summary), January 2015 Page | 6
Contacts and Further Information
The full report of Cities Beyond Perth: Best bets for growth in a new economic environment is
published in two parts:
Analysis of the competitive and collaborative advantages of Western Australia’s
largest regional centres
Profiles of the largest regional centres in Western Australia
To discuss this research report please contact:
Jack Archer
Deputy CEO
Regional Australia Institute (RAI)
(02) 6260 3733
Level 2, 53 Blackall Street
Barton ACT 2600
Further information on the work of the RAI can be found at www.regionalaustralia.org.au