Council Submissions Call for a Fairer Share for Remote Communities

Council will be bringing two more submissions to the table at the Local Government Association of Queensland’s (LGAQ) Annual Conference later this year that will focus on establishing more tertiary study opportunities for local young people, and getting a fairer share of investment in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

At a Special Meeting on Wednesday morning, August 18, Council agreed to the submissions, which will be tabled at the LGAQ’s conference in Mackay in late October.

The first submission calls on the State or Federal Government to provide $20 million to develop 10 pilot Regional University Centre sites to provide students from rural and regional Australia with greater choice in, and access to, higher education.

A Regional University Centre is a facility that regional students can use to study tertiary courses locally delivered by distance from any Australian higher-education institution, enabling them to study towards a degree while remaining in their local community.

There are 24 located across Australia, and in Queensland they are located in communities including St George, Goondiwindi and Dirranbandi.

Mayor Danielle Slade said she was keen to see a university campus specialising in mining-related degrees established in Mount Isa, and a Regional University Centre in Mount Isa would not only complement that, but also encourage more local school students to take up tertiary studies.

“It would not just benefit local children. I see it as also benefiting Indigenous kids and also getting more women into mining, so I’m really behind this,” Mayor Danielle Slade said.

“Anything that gets any higher education into rural and regional areas is a great thing.”

She said the percentage of the population with a Bachelor’s degree or higher in regional and remote communities is considerably lower compared to major cities.

The second submission urges the LGAQ to call on the Queensland Government to establish a “2032 Olympics Rural/Remote Queensland Funding Program”, to ensure that regional and remote areas of Queensland receive equitable funding for essential infrastructure and community facilities, to ensure they share in the economic benefits flowing to the State from the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

The submission also asks for significant investment in destination marketing for rural and remote Queensland, to encourage tourism dispersal beyond Brisbane.

“This is basically ensuring that rural and remote areas also get their fair piece of the pie and have an equivalent amount of money spent in our areas as well,” Councillor Peta MacRae said.

Council will argue in its submission that if the 2032 Olympics are genuinely going to benefit the entire State, there needs to be a tangible demonstration of this commitment by way of guaranteed funding to rural and remote communities.