REGIONAL Australia can provide many of the solutions our nation needs when it comes to addressing the housing and services issues facing many of the larger metropolitan centres.
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A Senate inquiry into the growth and economic potential of regional capitals will uncover exactly what many already know regional Australia is a land of opportunity.
Wagga mayor Cr Rod Kendall, chairman of Regional Capitals Australia (RCA), believes there is not enough recognition of what regional Australia offers.
RCA is a an alliance of 26 regional cities in five states and the Northern Territory.
Despite its combined size and population base, there is a belief that regional areas remain largely overlooked by city politicians who have little or no understanding of what happens in regional Australia.
Deputy chairman of the Senate committee, Junee senator Bill Heffernan, believes there are massive opportunities for centres such as Wagga to grow."
"There is no reason why Wagga in a few years can't be 100,000 to 150,000 people," Senator Heffernan said.
Cr Kendall made the valid point that building infrastructure for the expanding metropolitan areas was a massively expensive undertaking one that could be done for a fraction of the cost in regional areas.
While this would need some level of state and federal government support, the social and economic benefits would be significant.
One of the great barriers to the development of regional centres has been communication and transport, but these issues are being overcome.
Improved telecommunications through things such as the national broadband network albeit a cut down version means that businesses and individuals can be located in most major regional centres.
Similarly, reliable and frequent transport to and from capital cities provided by regular airline services mean the tyranny of distance no longer applies to those who choose to live and work in more isolated centres.
We need to have politicians showing vision for the future and making decisions that will improve our social and economic outcomes.
Regional Australia has a lot to offer our nation it's just going to take a political party with the fortitude to implement the right policy decisions to capitalise on that opportunity.
