Regional Australia Institute Regions Rising summit

**CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY**

Thank you, Liz for the kind introduction, as well as for your tireless work advocating for our wonderful regions.

As always, I begin by acknowledging the Aboriginal People as the custodians of this lands on which me gather. We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Tasmanian Aboriginal Communities. Being here in Launceston – with your beautiful rivers, forests, hills and gorges, it is easy to imagine how Indigenous Tasmanians cared for and protected these lands for countless generations.

I extend those same respects to all First Nations people joining us today.

Thank you to the Regional Australia Institute for inviting me to this event.

It is wonderful to be with you and to see so many mayors, councillors, friends and colleagues in the audience now and throughout the course of the day, including:

The Hon Jeremy Rockliff, Premier of Tasmania,
Bridget Archer MP, Member for Bass,
Senator Colbeck, and;
Mayor Matthew Garwood from the City of Launceston - it is a delight to be in your city.

Fostering robust regional economies is incredibly important and I know this is a goal the everybody here pursues with passion and determination.

The Institute was established under a Labor government back in 2011. When we returned to Government in 2022, we committed additional funding to support the Institute’s independent, fact-driven, future-focused work.

It’s been a pleasure to watch the Institute grow its reach across regional Australia, sharing ideas with communities near and far.

Regional communities across Australia are coming up with innovative plans and strategies every single day, and this roving series has an important role to play in sharing those successes as broadly as possible.

Fittingly, we are meeting in a place that is full of success stories.

Launceston is a regional city that is home to some of the best examples of regional urban development in the nation.

Across the river, we have the Launceston City Heart project, which has transformed central Launceston into one of Australia’s premier public spaces, turning the centre of this city into a vibrant retail, cultural and business precinct.

Then, just outside these doors we have the UTAS Inveresk Campus – one of Launceston’s biggest ever infrastructure projects.

Last year, I was here with the Premier and the Mayor to open the River’s Edge building. It is an architectural masterpiece that isn’t only creating jobs now, but that will attract and educate generations of students right here in Launceston, as well as creating immeasurable benefits to the confidence and growth of this city for decades to come.

And my colleague, Jason Clare, opened The Shed – the last of the three major new buildings to be opened as part of this project and a fantastic example of how to reduce embodied carbon in infrastructure. It’s well worth a look at if you get the opportunity.

And, of course, just a drop punt away we have York Park – the soon to be northern home of the Tasmania Football Club.

With $130m of new matchday facility, entertainment and seating upgrades on the way, football fans not only across Tasmania, but across the nation, can begin to get excited about the prospect of coming right here to Launceston to watch their favourite team in action.

Speaking as a Victorian, it’s hard to think of any more attractive weekend getaways than coming to Launceston to watch your team play.

These projects are transforming this region, driving innovation, growth and a powerful sense of community spirit.

Of course, they also have one important thing in common – each of those projects is a partnership between different levels of government, with businesses, with sporting groups, with the university and with the broader community.

They are also all projects that are targeted at one specific community, responding to the needs on the ground here.

These projects are what Launceston needs and wants for a successful future, but not every community in the country has those same requirements.

We know that the priorities here in Launceston will differ from those in Leeton or Longreach.

That is why our Regional Investment Framework recognises that a one-size-fits-all approach to regional development doesn’t cut it.

This framework provides a consistent, coordinated investment approach across Government, responsive to the unique strengths and challenges of our diverse regions.

It places regions and their people at the centre of decision-making by:

valuing local voices and local priorities;
taking an evidence-based approach to investment;
and coordinating across all levels of government.

While we can see the success of that approach writ large right here in Launceston, it is an approach we are duplicating across the country as we invest in the social and community infrastructure that makes our regional communities such wonderful places to live.

For the first time, our government has grants programs targeted at every community in Australia – from rural to the inner cities, and the peri-urban areas in between.

In regional Australia, our Growing Regions Program is providing funding of between $500,000 to $15 million to local governments and not-for-profits for eligible capital works projects.

Forty projects in the first round of funding for this program has been announced which included a $11 million commitment to the City Mission Launceston Community Precinct development which will provide an integrated housing space, healthcare and community services hub.

Round 2 has recently closed, which makes $394 million available for further important community and economic projects that will enhance the liveability of our regions.

And our $400 million Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program is looking to fund transformative investments in regional, rural and remote Australia based on the aims of unifying regional places, growing their economies and serving their communities.

The projects to be funded – in Broome, Colac, Swan Hill, Noosa and other locations around Australia have already been announced, transforming those communities in the same way that Launceston has been changed by the City Heart project.

But, we also know that the growth that successful regional development can bring carries with it its own challenge, none larger than what we are seeing in housing right now in every corner of the country.

My colleague Housing Minister Clare O’Neil is leading on a range of critical policy approaches there – including the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund and the National Housing Accord.

In my portfolio space, I am working on two important levers – enabling infrastructure and planning reform.

Through the Housing Support Program and its Priority Works Stream, we are partnering with state, territory and local governments to ensure local roads, utility connections and community infrastructure are developed alongside new housing.

We have nearly $1.5 billion on the table through that program to unplug blockages in the housing pipeline.

At the same time, we are undertaking planning reforms to enable new housing developments.

To help the process along, the Australian Government has funded the planning stream of the Housing Support Program, which provides $50 million for state, territory and local government to try new planning approaches.

This means getting more people into the industry, getting planning settings right and accommodating new housing targets in existing plans.

What it means is taking more pressure off families and communities, and building more housing that they can afford.

Projects like this are essential to ensuring the liveability and sustainability of our regional towns and cities. They keep people living here and they attract new residents.

But the sustainability of regions is much broader than our built infrastructure – and the is where the “Circular Economy in Action – Regional Perspectives” report that we are launching today comes in.

This research, which was funded through the Intergovernmental Shared Inquiry Program, demonstrates how communities are employing approaches tailored to their regions.

And just like it does in the space of regional development, the City of Launceston serves as a good example of this in action with its updated procurement policy focusing on material sourcing, manufacturing, packaging to check if products can be repaired, re-purposed or re-used.

Now, the local industry is harnessing opportunities to re-use waste materials like glass, rubber and demolition waste including concrete, metal and bricks.

These examples show how shifting to sustainable practices can benefit both the economy and the environment, making communities stronger and more resilient.

Collaboration is central to implementing circular initiatives. Grassroots circular economy initiatives, such as community repair workshops and second-hand markets, offer cost-effective alternatives to new purchases.

The Australian Government is fostering a circular economy where we waste less and reuse more.

We’ve already embedded circularity across many flagship programs including the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund and $7 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

To provide advice on the opportunities and barriers in this area, we established the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group, which will deliver its final advice at the end of the year.

And we are developing a new National Circular Economy Framework, which will set the pace and direction for Australia’s transition.

It will include targets, priority supply chains, and describe what needs to happen across the economy to catalyse our transition.

We want to properly understand how to leverage our competitive advantages to set up our regions for success.

The circular economy isn’t only good for the environment, it is good for our economy.

By re-using and repairing more of what we own, we can create opportunities through the supply chain for regional businesses and workers, creating a more vibrant region and community for us all to enjoy.

Thank you very much for your time today, as well as to all of you who worked so hard on this important report.