March 13, 2025 • 14 mins
Political candidates chasing votes in the Far South Coast have been warned to keep the issues close to home. We chat with Liz Ritchie from the Regional Australia Institute on why your vote will matter.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
High are Far South Coast.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Do I think that every metropolitan MP understands regional Australia. No,
I don't, and I think there's a great opportunity to
shift their gaze to understand that regional Australia is. It's
our time.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello Ali Droua, with you okay, Regional Australia. Listen up.
This next federal election is going to be very much
about the way you vote, so don't think otherwise. All
sides of politics will do themselves few favors if they
underestimate the Bush vote and try and keep the city
centric contingent happy. So when you're holding that little pencil
(00:39):
at the ballot box, you might want to ask, will
the person or party I'm voting for deliver what is
best for my neck of the woods and on the
Far South Coast that is the seat of eden Manero
currently held by the ALP. And there's a long list
of issues that need sorting, a shortage of housing, high rents,
the state of local roads and the lack of GP.
(01:00):
You can't help but feel whoever wins this federal election,
the policies need to be about rebalancing the nation to
improve the livability of regional communities, especially since the COVID pandemic,
so a wave of city slickers move away from the metros.
Liz Richie is the CEO of the Regional Australia Institute
(01:21):
and she has some strong ideas on how our politicians
should be working their campaigns. My colleague Darren Katrupi sat
down with Liz to discuss the very different challenges that
we face in the regions. And whilst there'll always be
the bigger picture stuff like cost of living pressures and
the transition to renewable energy, the hot topic is still
(01:41):
about creating and keeping local jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Transition and the impacts of transition is front of mind
and so what comes with that are still you know,
the big ticket issues like housing, the workforce, how do
we skill, how do we reach skill, how do we
think about what those jobs will be? And you know,
the centerpiece of both those issues key issues are people.
(02:09):
So where are we going to get the people from
that we need to actually meet the future work demands.
So you know, when we look at you know, the
challenges in regional Australia, we know that it's these sort
of perennial big issues that don't seem to go away,
and they're in some ways big wicked challenges, which is
(02:31):
why at the Institute, you know, we've tried to take
a very holistic and strategic, long term approach to some
of this work, and you know there's a whole lot
more to be done. I mean, you could talk about
where we're sitting with childcare. It's a whole nother conversation
because without good childcare, we know that people can't go
to work. So there's this really important deep understanding that's
(02:57):
required at a sort of regional lens, but also from
a macro lens, which says, you can't seek to solve
any one of these issues that are impacting regional communities
within a transition if you don't seek to solve them
all at the same time.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Bearing in mind that a lot of these issues aren't
necessarily unique to region or Australia either, but they obviously
have more impact out in the regions. Is there any
sign of things improving, like housing and the amount of workers.
It seems like since COVID everything got turned on its
head and there doesn't seem to be an end in
(03:35):
sight or is there?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, when it comes to housing, look
there isn't a silver bullet, unfortunately, I wish there was.
We really are playing catch up and there are many
things that are happening, you know, whether it's through a
sort of policy lens or whether it's through that sort
of investment stream. There's certainly targets in place to build
(03:57):
the houses, but again targets won't get at you very
far if you don't have the builders and the tradees.
So I know that there's been a visa streams. It's
going to be dedicated to improving and opening that pathway
to bring in more trade skills to the country, which
we know we need. But we need to be looking
at our education facilities and fast tracking you know, how
(04:21):
are we thinking about skills in this country and ensuring
that some of the cross border skill barriers that we
seek to have in this country can be removed where
we've got, you know, people who are skilled in one
state but not in another to do certain tasks within
(04:42):
their trade. So skills recognition is a major issue that
is being addressed but is actually taking much more time
than we'd like to see do.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Regional Australian voters have a chance to impact on the
balance of power at the upcoming election, bearing your mind
that you know, all the poles say it's going to
be pretty close.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah. I mean, look, you've got to always think that
Regional Australia's voice matters, Your vote matters always, and its
incumbent on all of us as citizens, particularly regional citizens,
to think carefully about our vote. You know, it's not
enough to say, well, you know, we don't have enough
(05:26):
people or enough population to make a difference, because anything
can happen. You know, we've seen that in the past,
and the worst situation is to sit back and think, well,
my vote doesn't count. It always counts, and everybody's got
a local member, and you know you've got to make
that vote work for you as best you can. I
think we you know, traditionally swinging seats tend to do
(05:50):
better in fact in relation to achieving their outcomes, and
unfortunately that's sort of a sad reality. But you know,
I think there's there's always a way to make an impact.
You've just got to think strategically about your region and
what it is that you seek to be both now
(06:11):
and into the future.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
More soon of our conversation with Liz ritchie CEO of
the Regional Australia Institute, including her advice to any politician
or candidate who still thinks there just aren't enough votes
to matter in the regions.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I art fast South Coast, I art fart South Coast.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
More now of our chat with Liz Ritchie, the CEO
of the Regional Australia Institute and as the only independent
think tank on the regional landscape. Liz and her team
have dissected the data to provide a snapshot of the
key issues our politicians need to keep front of mind
if they want a fast track a more productive and
booming Australia. Regional Australia definitely pulls its weight. It currently
(06:59):
feeds the nation, it powers the nation, and it drives
the top ten exports. We represent thirty seven percent of
the population and ninety percent of Australia's renewable energy projects
will sit in our backyards. Darren Katruby continues his chat
with Liz Richie.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Do you think our politicians have realized that they can't
really afford just to be city centric on their policies,
but they really need to give serious consideration to how
we are faring in the bush.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. Look, I think it's a big and broad question.
And I don't sort of, you know, want to provide
you with a big and broad answer, but the reality
is that some understand it better than others. And look,
I think this is just a fact of the times
and there are you know, we work across all sides
(07:51):
of politics. We're a fiercely independent institute and that's really
important to us and who we are because we need
to be we need to work with all sides of
government and because we know that at some point the
tides change, and so you know, ensuring that we have
(08:12):
the best opportunity to put our case forward for and
on behalf of regional communities is really important to us
as an organization who represents and does research on behalf
of regions. Do I think that every metropolitan MP understands
regional Australia. No, I don't, and I think there's a
(08:33):
great opportunity to shift their gaze, as I call it.
And this isn't just aimed at politicians. This is a
theme that we've been carrying over the last few years
to also speak to corporate Australia, to directors, to executives,
to people who work in the community to understand that
(08:54):
regional Australia. Is it's our time as we say, it's
sort of our time in region Australia because we are
seeing a transition like no other. We talk an awful
lot about the net zero transition, but what is also
a foot and coming like a speeding train is the
(09:15):
demand for more opportunities to live in regional Australia. So
I'll share some facts with you in twenty twenty three.
In fact, from twenty twenty one to twenty twenty three,
we took a poll every year how many city dwellers
want to move to regional Australia or are considering, and
for consistently it came back at twenty percent coming off
(09:36):
the back of COVID. Our last pole has just produced
a double that figure. So we're now looking at forty
percent of city dwellers don't want to live in the city.
So that is a major shift in our society's expectations,
wants and you know, wishes for their future. So how
(09:57):
are we preparing for this? And this is something that
I want all politicians who are going to take a
seat at the table in our democracy to understand that
regional Australia is our future and we need to do
a lot better at understanding how these policies impact those
(10:18):
communities because we've quite frankly, we've got to play catch up.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
What about those issues on the ground when, for instance,
being able to see a GP if you move to
the bush, you know that's obviously not as easy as
it is if you live in one of the big
cities where you've got you tens of medical centers on
almost every street corner.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
No, it's a major issue, major, major issue. We just
can't seem to do enough here. And so that's when
I say we need to double down. I mean, I
know it can be hard if you're in a capital
city to see a GP. So there's some semblance of
understanding what it might be like to know it's not
next week, it's next month. Many regional communities, so it's
(11:03):
been able to put themselves in the shoes of constituents
who live in regional or remote parts of Australia to
actually be able to receive just a basic service that
we would consider a human right to go and see
a GP. There's been many efforts to try to close this,
but we still haven't landed the plane.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
With the housing in skills shortage. It's sort of there
at opposite ends. You can't have one without the other.
Has anyone being able to get anywhere neat cracking that
egg because without one we can't have the other, and
vice versa. I know we have people coming into the
regions that are moving from the city, but then they
turn around and say no because they couldn't find anywhere
(11:46):
to live.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Unfortunately, it really is moving a lot slower than we'd
like to see. But this is why we developed the
Regionalization Ambition twenty thirty two. This is why we have
a ten year plan. We've been in front of this
issue well before it became a national headline. We've tracked
job vacancies in regional Australia from around the forty thousand
(12:08):
mark in twenty nineteen to nearly one hundred thousand through
COVID back to about the mid seventies. At the moment,
you know, we're tracking those jobs and what's happening in
regional Australia. We've busted those myths that say there's no jobs.
You know, there are such an abundance of employment. So
that has changed the landscape has changed. What we need
(12:30):
to see around housing is we have to play catch
up here. I mean, nobody predicted a global pandemic, but
if someone had ran the numbers to see that housing
was not keeping pace with population prior to the pandemic,
we would have seen that this was an inevitable outcome. Now,
(12:53):
unfortunately we didn't do that work, we didn't get in
front of the population movement, and now we're playing catch up.
So the best thing that we can do is learn
from the past and start to do that very necessary
population planning and spatial mapping. We've got the trend lines,
(13:14):
we know the sentiment, we know that the nation's love
affair for regional Australia is very real. So how are
we going to respond to that?
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Just finally, any advice for the major parties, in fact,
any candidates leading up to the election about what they
should think and do for regional Australia.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Well, the worst thing you could do is ignore regional Australia,
which I don't think any party is intending to do.
I think that they all see the significance of regional
Australia and I would really love to see the work
being done to ensure that regional Australia is at the
center of their policies rather than in some case as
(14:00):
being a bit of an afterthought. So how do you
start to think about a nation where regional Australia's population
is edging towards fifty percent, because that's where we're headed.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Well, some sound advice there for any of our local
candidates well into the campaign blitz for office or re election.
As Liz Richie says, don't underestimate the value of your
vote on the Far South Coast. Get enrolled, get out
there and vote on the day. It can shift the
balance of power. I'm Ali Drauer. That's all for this
episode of Iheartfar South Coast, proudly supported by the New
(14:35):
South Wales Government. I'll catch you next time iHeart Far
South Coast.
High are Far South Coast.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Do I think that every metropolitan MP understands regional Australia. No,
I don't, and I think there's a great opportunity to
shift their gaze to understand that regional Australia is. It's
our time.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello Ali Droua, with you okay, Regional Australia. Listen up.
This next federal election is going to be very much
about the way you vote, so don't think otherwise. All
sides of politics will do themselves few favors if they
underestimate the Bush vote and try and keep the city
centric contingent happy. So when you're holding that little pencil
(00:39):
at the ballot box, you might want to ask, will
the person or party I'm voting for deliver what is
best for my neck of the woods and on the
Far South Coast that is the seat of eden Manero
currently held by the ALP. And there's a long list
of issues that need sorting, a shortage of housing, high rents,
the state of local roads and the lack of GP.
(01:00):
You can't help but feel whoever wins this federal election,
the policies need to be about rebalancing the nation to
improve the livability of regional communities, especially since the COVID pandemic,
so a wave of city slickers move away from the metros.
Liz Richie is the CEO of the Regional Australia Institute
(01:21):
and she has some strong ideas on how our politicians
should be working their campaigns. My colleague Darren Katrupi sat
down with Liz to discuss the very different challenges that
we face in the regions. And whilst there'll always be
the bigger picture stuff like cost of living pressures and
the transition to renewable energy, the hot topic is still
(01:41):
about creating and keeping local jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Transition and the impacts of transition is front of mind
and so what comes with that are still you know,
the big ticket issues like housing, the workforce, how do
we skill, how do we reach skill, how do we
think about what those jobs will be? And you know,
the centerpiece of both those issues key issues are people.
(02:09):
So where are we going to get the people from
that we need to actually meet the future work demands.
So you know, when we look at you know, the
challenges in regional Australia, we know that it's these sort
of perennial big issues that don't seem to go away,
and they're in some ways big wicked challenges, which is
(02:31):
why at the Institute, you know, we've tried to take
a very holistic and strategic, long term approach to some
of this work, and you know there's a whole lot
more to be done. I mean, you could talk about
where we're sitting with childcare. It's a whole nother conversation
because without good childcare, we know that people can't go
to work. So there's this really important deep understanding that's
(02:57):
required at a sort of regional lens, but also from
a macro lens, which says, you can't seek to solve
any one of these issues that are impacting regional communities
within a transition if you don't seek to solve them
all at the same time.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Bearing in mind that a lot of these issues aren't
necessarily unique to region or Australia either, but they obviously
have more impact out in the regions. Is there any
sign of things improving, like housing and the amount of workers.
It seems like since COVID everything got turned on its
head and there doesn't seem to be an end in
(03:35):
sight or is there?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, when it comes to housing, look
there isn't a silver bullet, unfortunately, I wish there was.
We really are playing catch up and there are many
things that are happening, you know, whether it's through a
sort of policy lens or whether it's through that sort
of investment stream. There's certainly targets in place to build
(03:57):
the houses, but again targets won't get at you very
far if you don't have the builders and the tradees.
So I know that there's been a visa streams. It's
going to be dedicated to improving and opening that pathway
to bring in more trade skills to the country, which
we know we need. But we need to be looking
at our education facilities and fast tracking you know, how
(04:21):
are we thinking about skills in this country and ensuring
that some of the cross border skill barriers that we
seek to have in this country can be removed where
we've got, you know, people who are skilled in one
state but not in another to do certain tasks within
(04:42):
their trade. So skills recognition is a major issue that
is being addressed but is actually taking much more time
than we'd like to see do.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Regional Australian voters have a chance to impact on the
balance of power at the upcoming election, bearing your mind
that you know, all the poles say it's going to
be pretty close.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah. I mean, look, you've got to always think that
Regional Australia's voice matters, Your vote matters always, and its
incumbent on all of us as citizens, particularly regional citizens,
to think carefully about our vote. You know, it's not
enough to say, well, you know, we don't have enough
(05:26):
people or enough population to make a difference, because anything
can happen. You know, we've seen that in the past,
and the worst situation is to sit back and think, well,
my vote doesn't count. It always counts, and everybody's got
a local member, and you know you've got to make
that vote work for you as best you can. I
think we you know, traditionally swinging seats tend to do
(05:50):
better in fact in relation to achieving their outcomes, and
unfortunately that's sort of a sad reality. But you know,
I think there's there's always a way to make an impact.
You've just got to think strategically about your region and
what it is that you seek to be both now
(06:11):
and into the future.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
More soon of our conversation with Liz ritchie CEO of
the Regional Australia Institute, including her advice to any politician
or candidate who still thinks there just aren't enough votes
to matter in the regions.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I art fast South Coast, I art fart South Coast.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
More now of our chat with Liz Ritchie, the CEO
of the Regional Australia Institute and as the only independent
think tank on the regional landscape. Liz and her team
have dissected the data to provide a snapshot of the
key issues our politicians need to keep front of mind
if they want a fast track a more productive and
booming Australia. Regional Australia definitely pulls its weight. It currently
(06:59):
feeds the nation, it powers the nation, and it drives
the top ten exports. We represent thirty seven percent of
the population and ninety percent of Australia's renewable energy projects
will sit in our backyards. Darren Katruby continues his chat
with Liz Richie.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Do you think our politicians have realized that they can't
really afford just to be city centric on their policies,
but they really need to give serious consideration to how
we are faring in the bush.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. Look, I think it's a big and broad question.
And I don't sort of, you know, want to provide
you with a big and broad answer, but the reality
is that some understand it better than others. And look,
I think this is just a fact of the times
and there are you know, we work across all sides
(07:51):
of politics. We're a fiercely independent institute and that's really
important to us and who we are because we need
to be we need to work with all sides of
government and because we know that at some point the
tides change, and so you know, ensuring that we have
(08:12):
the best opportunity to put our case forward for and
on behalf of regional communities is really important to us
as an organization who represents and does research on behalf
of regions. Do I think that every metropolitan MP understands
regional Australia. No, I don't, and I think there's a
(08:33):
great opportunity to shift their gaze, as I call it.
And this isn't just aimed at politicians. This is a
theme that we've been carrying over the last few years
to also speak to corporate Australia, to directors, to executives,
to people who work in the community to understand that
(08:54):
regional Australia. Is it's our time as we say, it's
sort of our time in region Australia because we are
seeing a transition like no other. We talk an awful
lot about the net zero transition, but what is also
a foot and coming like a speeding train is the
(09:15):
demand for more opportunities to live in regional Australia. So
I'll share some facts with you in twenty twenty three.
In fact, from twenty twenty one to twenty twenty three,
we took a poll every year how many city dwellers
want to move to regional Australia or are considering, and
for consistently it came back at twenty percent coming off
(09:36):
the back of COVID. Our last pole has just produced
a double that figure. So we're now looking at forty
percent of city dwellers don't want to live in the city.
So that is a major shift in our society's expectations,
wants and you know, wishes for their future. So how
(09:57):
are we preparing for this? And this is something that
I want all politicians who are going to take a
seat at the table in our democracy to understand that
regional Australia is our future and we need to do
a lot better at understanding how these policies impact those
(10:18):
communities because we've quite frankly, we've got to play catch up.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
What about those issues on the ground when, for instance,
being able to see a GP if you move to
the bush, you know that's obviously not as easy as
it is if you live in one of the big
cities where you've got you tens of medical centers on
almost every street corner.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
No, it's a major issue, major, major issue. We just
can't seem to do enough here. And so that's when
I say we need to double down. I mean, I
know it can be hard if you're in a capital
city to see a GP. So there's some semblance of
understanding what it might be like to know it's not
next week, it's next month. Many regional communities, so it's
(11:03):
been able to put themselves in the shoes of constituents
who live in regional or remote parts of Australia to
actually be able to receive just a basic service that
we would consider a human right to go and see
a GP. There's been many efforts to try to close this,
but we still haven't landed the plane.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
With the housing in skills shortage. It's sort of there
at opposite ends. You can't have one without the other.
Has anyone being able to get anywhere neat cracking that
egg because without one we can't have the other, and
vice versa. I know we have people coming into the
regions that are moving from the city, but then they
turn around and say no because they couldn't find anywhere
(11:46):
to live.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Unfortunately, it really is moving a lot slower than we'd
like to see. But this is why we developed the
Regionalization Ambition twenty thirty two. This is why we have
a ten year plan. We've been in front of this
issue well before it became a national headline. We've tracked
job vacancies in regional Australia from around the forty thousand
(12:08):
mark in twenty nineteen to nearly one hundred thousand through
COVID back to about the mid seventies. At the moment,
you know, we're tracking those jobs and what's happening in
regional Australia. We've busted those myths that say there's no jobs.
You know, there are such an abundance of employment. So
that has changed the landscape has changed. What we need
(12:30):
to see around housing is we have to play catch
up here. I mean, nobody predicted a global pandemic, but
if someone had ran the numbers to see that housing
was not keeping pace with population prior to the pandemic,
we would have seen that this was an inevitable outcome. Now,
(12:53):
unfortunately we didn't do that work, we didn't get in
front of the population movement, and now we're playing catch up.
So the best thing that we can do is learn
from the past and start to do that very necessary
population planning and spatial mapping. We've got the trend lines,
(13:14):
we know the sentiment, we know that the nation's love
affair for regional Australia is very real. So how are
we going to respond to that?
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Just finally, any advice for the major parties, in fact,
any candidates leading up to the election about what they
should think and do for regional Australia.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Well, the worst thing you could do is ignore regional Australia,
which I don't think any party is intending to do.
I think that they all see the significance of regional
Australia and I would really love to see the work
being done to ensure that regional Australia is at the
center of their policies rather than in some case as
(14:00):
being a bit of an afterthought. So how do you
start to think about a nation where regional Australia's population
is edging towards fifty percent, because that's where we're headed.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Well, some sound advice there for any of our local
candidates well into the campaign blitz for office or re election.
As Liz Richie says, don't underestimate the value of your
vote on the Far South Coast. Get enrolled, get out
there and vote on the day. It can shift the
balance of power. I'm Ali Drauer. That's all for this
episode of Iheartfar South Coast, proudly supported by the New
(14:35):
South Wales Government. I'll catch you next time iHeart Far
South Coast.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!