| Big Country, Big Ideas Liz Ritchie CEO, Regional Australia Institute (RAI)
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It’s now official, Western Queenslanders host Australia’s most dynamic Dinosaur Trail, but they could also lay claim to offering the warmest hospitality. This month, I had the pleasure of visiting the outback town of Richmond (pop. 648), where the Western Queensland Alliance of Councils held its second Assembly, with our Chief Economist, Dr Kim Houghton. After a year of little travel, it was my honour to open the Assembly and address this year’s theme “Building Blocks for the Future”. In attendance was an outstanding cast of federal and state ministers, industry and regional champions, supporting the hard-hitting agenda to address the big issues facing Western Queensland. A full summary of the Assembly communique is here.
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Regional job vacancies hit another all-time high in April, with more than 67,500 roles advertised. This was a 2 percent increase on the previous high in March and a very sizeable 100 percent increase on April 2020 when much of Australia was in lockdown and hiring was at its low point for the year. At the RAI, we know that with great opportunity comes challenge. As I mentioned last month, housing availability in regional Australia is under our microscope. While rental vacancies have tightened since COVID in many towns, more than 45,000 new homes were listed for sale in the three months to April, and with more homes coming onto the market the rate of price growth has started to slow. Earlier this month, more than 730 people registered for our first Regions Rising Webinar 2021 - Regional Housing: Meeting a Growing Demand. Thank you to those who participated, including our panellists Eliza Owen, Craig Sinclair and Tim Renwick, as well as our friends at NBN Co and Nutrien Ag Solutions, who make this possible.On the issue of webinars, we were also thrilled to host the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Michael McCormack for his pre-budget address on 5 May. More than 380 of you joined us for this address. To view this please click here. Next month our RAC2031 will meet in Sydney at the CBA Office. I am delighted to announce our newest member, the Woolworths Group. Group Head of Reputation, Government Relations, and Industry Affairs Christian Bennett joins us at the RAC2031 table and I would like to extend a heartfelt welcome.
We are looking forward to hosting the inaugural RAC2031 CEO Dinner with the CEO of Commonwealth Bank, Matt Comyn. This is an auspicious occasion and I look forward to communicating the outcomes in my update next month. Our Move to More campaign reaches a major milestone at the end of the month, with campaign assets including TV commercials, radio advertisement and billboards going to market on Monday. Next week, millions of people in capital cities across the country will be asked to ‘rethink regional’. This campaign’s purpose is to raise the level of awareness about the opportunities that exist beyond the big city limits. Our research confirmed that one in five city dwellers were already considering this move as they seek opportunities for a more affordable lifestyle and a better work-life balance.
Over the past month, the RAI, in partnership with our campaign creative agency Redhanded, has undertaken an extensive outreach program to more than 480 regional Local Government Areas (LGAs) to help us deliver a website that showcases our beautiful towns and cities. The members of our Regional Activators Alliance have also been working with us to update the data and website platform. The Move to More website is a critical asset in our campaign which will continue to expand with the range of corporate partnerships supporting this movement, such as NBN Co who is a significant sponsor. Our website will go live next week and I extend this invitation to you all to work with us to continue to build this platform. Please email your feedback to info@regionalaustralia.org.auAs I present to a range of forums around the country, I am immensely proud of this campaign and the feedback we are receiving. The regions truly are rising, and we must collectively prepare ourselves and our rural and regional communities. Stay safe and stay connected.Liz RitchieCEO, Regional Australia Institute
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