Wagga rides China wave

Yesterday, the Wagga City Council signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese state-owned company Wuai Group and its partner the Sydney-based ACA Capital Investment, to construct a massive wholesale warehouse the likes of which has not been seen before in Australia.

It is believed the project valued at around $400 million and covering 200,000 square metres, will employ up to 9000 people in the construction phase and ongoing employment for about 2000 people.

This is a major coup for the city council which has been working on the project for many years and is a credit to both its patience and determination to see to fruition something that has been almost 10 years in the making.

It is also a major win for Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire who has been toiling behind the scenes.

Recently dubbed "Daryl Do Little", Mr Maguire has certainly silenced his critics having played a major part in brokering this deal.

Mr Maguire has undertaken several trips to China in the past 12 months at his own expense to ensure it was Wagga that won the right to host this project of national significance.

While a great deal of water is still to pass under the bridge, yesterday's signing of a memorandum of understanding sets in concrete the commitment to proceed.

The economic benefit for the region should not be underestimated benefit that goes well beyond those people employed at the facility itself.

As a national focus for retailers and wholesalers, the project has the potential to bring tens of thousands of visitors every year to our region.

While Australia will continue to have strong relationships with trading partners in the US, Middle East and Europe, China is the economic powerhouse of the future and for our region and this partnership will provide the platform for Wagga to ride the wave of that prosperity.