Will Regional Australia Survive?
As technology increases, automation replaces labour intensive jobs, and the search for employment keeps dragging our next generations away to the major cities, it’s timely to consider…will Regional Australia survive?
Mining has always played a major role in job creation in Regional Australia, and that can be seen happening again now with the improvement in the value of raw materials and the opening of new mines in recent years. However there is an underlying drain on our population that we need to be aware of. Mining is leading the world in several forms of automation. From drag lines to truck driving, many of the jobs in mining can be automated, and that conversion from people labour to automated labour will continue as fast as technology will allow.
Agricultural, especially in North Queensland should be a major employer, if only we had government leaders with a vision greater than 3 years. But unfortunately without guaranteed irrigation and power supply, we will never reach what is possible.
Our young people continue to exit the regions in search of better opportunities in the capital cities, which is seeing an intellectual drain as well as adding to an ageing population.
Now this all sounds doom and gloom and it isn’t a catastrophic decline in regional economies, but it is a clear and present trend that unless we open our eyes and start to look at “Nation Building Projects”, then by the time it does become a catastrophic problem, it will be all too late.
John Rosel