March 13, 2025 • 14 mins
Political candidates chasing votes in the Upper Hunter 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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My heart Upper Hunter.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
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 1 (00:17):
Hello, Darren Katrubue 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 personal party i'm voting for deliver what's best for
my neck of the woods. And that's the federal seed
of Hunter currently held by Labour's Dan Repercoli and the
seed of New England held by the Nationals Barnaby Joyce.
There's a long list of issues that need sorting, a
shortage of houses, high rents, state of our local roads
(01:01):
and a lack of GPS. You can't help but feel
whoever wins this federal election, their 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
stickers up stumps and head west. Liz Richie is the
CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, and she has some
(01:23):
solid ideas on how our polyge should be working their campaigns.
I sat down with Liz to discuss the very different
challenges we face in the regions. And whilst there are
always the bigger picture stuff like cost of living pressures
and the transition to renewable energy, the hot topic is
still about creating and keeping jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Transition and the impacts of transition is front of mind
for a region like the Hunter, as it is for
many regions around the country, 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 reskill,
(02:04):
how do we think about what those jobs will be?
And you know, the centerpiece of both those issues key
issues are people. 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
(02:26):
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 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 in the Hunter.
(02:50):
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 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
(03:11):
that are impacting regional communities within a transition if you
don't seek to solve them all at the same.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Time, 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
(03:38):
end in sight or is there?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
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. Certain targets in place to build the houses,
(04:02):
but again, targets won't get 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
(04:23):
and fast tracking you know, how 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 their trade. So skills
(04:48):
recognition is a major issue that is being addressed, but
is actually taking much more time than we'd like to see.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Do 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. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
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 people
(05:30):
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 better
(05:55):
in fact in relation to achieving their outcome, and unfortunately
that's sort of a sad reality. But you know, I
think there's always 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
(06:15):
and into the future.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
More soon of my conversation with Liz Ritchie, CEO of
the Regional Australia Institute, including her advice to any politician
or candidate who still thinks that just aren't enough votes
to matter in the regions.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I heart apper Hunter.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I heart apper Hunter. More now of our chat with
Liz Ritchie, the CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, the
only independent think tank on Australia's 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 mine to fast track a more productive, in booming nation.
(06:58):
Regional Australia definitely pulls its weight. It currently feeds the nation,
it powers the nation, and 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.
But why is it our regions seem to get treated
at second rate? Do you think our politicians have realized
(07:21):
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 (07:31):
Yeah. Look, I think it's a big and broad question
and I don't sort of 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 of politics.
(07:54):
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 the best
(08:15):
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 great opportunity to
(08:37):
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 regional Australia is
(08:59):
it's our time, as we say, it's sort of our
time in regional Australia because we are seeing a transition
like no other. We talk an awful lot about the
net zero transition and that would be live and well
in the Hunter, I know. But what is also a
foot and coming like a speeding train is the demand
(09:22):
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 the back
(09:43):
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 am
(10:04):
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 communities
(10:25):
because we've quite frankly, we've got to play catch up.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
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 that's obviously not as easy
as it is if you live in one of the
big cities where you've got you know, tens of medical
centers on almost every street corner.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
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 for many regional communities. So
(11:09):
it's 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 (11:30):
With the housing and skills shortage, it's sort of a
there at opposite ends. You can't have one without the
others an 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
(11:52):
anywhere to live.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Unfortunately, it really is moving a lot slower than we'd
like to see. But this is why we develop 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
(12:15):
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
(12:37):
need 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. Unfortunately,
(13:01):
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,
we know the sentiment, we know that the nation's love
(13:26):
affair for regional Australia is very real. So how are
we going to respond to that?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
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 (13:42):
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
(14:02):
of their policies rather than in some cases 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 1 (14:19):
Some sound advice there for any local candidates well into
the campaign blitz for office or re election. So as
Liz Richie says, don't underestimate the value of your vote
in shaping the future of the Upper Hunter. Get enrolled,
get out there and vote. It can shift the balance
of power. I'm Darren Katrube. That's all for this episode
(14:40):
of I Heart Upper Hunter, proudly supported by the new
South Wales government. That's your next night, I Heart Upper Hunter.
My heart Upper Hunter.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
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 1 (00:17):
Hello, Darren Katrubue 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 personal party i'm voting for deliver what's best for
my neck of the woods. And that's the federal seed
of Hunter currently held by Labour's Dan Repercoli and the
seed of New England held by the Nationals Barnaby Joyce.
There's a long list of issues that need sorting, a
shortage of houses, high rents, state of our local roads
(01:01):
and a lack of GPS. You can't help but feel
whoever wins this federal election, their 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
stickers up stumps and head west. Liz Richie is the
CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, and she has some
(01:23):
solid ideas on how our polyge should be working their campaigns.
I sat down with Liz to discuss the very different
challenges we face in the regions. And whilst there are
always the bigger picture stuff like cost of living pressures
and the transition to renewable energy, the hot topic is
still about creating and keeping jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Transition and the impacts of transition is front of mind
for a region like the Hunter, as it is for
many regions around the country, 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 reskill,
(02:04):
how do we think about what those jobs will be?
And you know, the centerpiece of both those issues key
issues are people. 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
(02:26):
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 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 in the Hunter.
(02:50):
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 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
(03:11):
that are impacting regional communities within a transition if you
don't seek to solve them all at the same.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Time, 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
(03:38):
end in sight or is there?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
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. Certain targets in place to build the houses,
(04:02):
but again, targets won't get 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
(04:23):
and fast tracking you know, how 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 their trade. So skills
(04:48):
recognition is a major issue that is being addressed, but
is actually taking much more time than we'd like to see.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Do 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. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
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 people
(05:30):
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 better
(05:55):
in fact in relation to achieving their outcome, and unfortunately
that's sort of a sad reality. But you know, I
think there's always 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
(06:15):
and into the future.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
More soon of my conversation with Liz Ritchie, CEO of
the Regional Australia Institute, including her advice to any politician
or candidate who still thinks that just aren't enough votes
to matter in the regions.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I heart apper Hunter.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I heart apper Hunter. More now of our chat with
Liz Ritchie, the CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, the
only independent think tank on Australia's 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 mine to fast track a more productive, in booming nation.
(06:58):
Regional Australia definitely pulls its weight. It currently feeds the nation,
it powers the nation, and 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.
But why is it our regions seem to get treated
at second rate? Do you think our politicians have realized
(07:21):
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 (07:31):
Yeah. Look, I think it's a big and broad question
and I don't sort of 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 of politics.
(07:54):
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 the best
(08:15):
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 great opportunity to
(08:37):
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 regional Australia is
(08:59):
it's our time, as we say, it's sort of our
time in regional Australia because we are seeing a transition
like no other. We talk an awful lot about the
net zero transition and that would be live and well
in the Hunter, I know. But what is also a
foot and coming like a speeding train is the demand
(09:22):
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 the back
(09:43):
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 am
(10:04):
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 communities
(10:25):
because we've quite frankly, we've got to play catch up.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
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 that's obviously not as easy
as it is if you live in one of the
big cities where you've got you know, tens of medical
centers on almost every street corner.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
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 for many regional communities. So
(11:09):
it's 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 (11:30):
With the housing and skills shortage, it's sort of a
there at opposite ends. You can't have one without the
others an 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
(11:52):
anywhere to live.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Unfortunately, it really is moving a lot slower than we'd
like to see. But this is why we develop 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
(12:15):
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
(12:37):
need 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. Unfortunately,
(13:01):
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,
we know the sentiment, we know that the nation's love
(13:26):
affair for regional Australia is very real. So how are
we going to respond to that?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
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 (13:42):
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
(14:02):
of their policies rather than in some cases 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 1 (14:19):
Some sound advice there for any local candidates well into
the campaign blitz for office or re election. So as
Liz Richie says, don't underestimate the value of your vote
in shaping the future of the Upper Hunter. Get enrolled,
get out there and vote. It can shift the balance
of power. I'm Darren Katrube. That's all for this episode
(14:40):
of I Heart Upper Hunter, proudly supported by the new
South Wales government. That's your next night, I Heart Upper Hunter.
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