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By Kathleen Carmody
Australia’s development as a nation cannot proceed without regard for rural and regional development, Catholic Welfare Australia has warned.
It argues that
current national economic policy is hostile to regional equity.
Catholic Welfare’s national director, Toby O’Connor, said: “The disparities that have emerged cannot simply be accepted as the price of economic
reform.
“To do so would consign families and regional communities to poverty, risk undermining national cohesion and most probably hinder the long-term growth and prosperity of the nation.
“Entire
regions, especially those traditionally dependent on manufacturing, remote rural areas and some coastal regions ... endure rates of joblessness several times the national average, while core metropolitan regions
enjoy full employment.”
Catholic Welfare Australia has issued seven key principles for promoting regional and socially just regional development. They call for:
*a national framework for economic
development in which regional equity and development become central objectives of federal government
*a focus on the destructive impacts of microeconomic reform on regions
*development planning at the
regional level, where location-specific policies are best formulated
*a stronger policy focus on regions in greatest need
*sustained private and public sector job generation initiatives linked to
regional development strategies
*significant and long-term infrastructure investment targeted towards a sustainable increase in regional employment and incomes
*the protection of minimum wages in any
strategy for regional development.
Political parties have been urged to embrace the principles in their election policies.
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