News Corp Bush Summit highlights opportunities and challenges facing regional Queensland

This year, the News Corp Bush Summit series was expanded and held across six regional locations in Australia in the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. The Queensland Summit took place in Rockhampton on Friday, 18 August with regional leaders from across the state in attendance including QFF’s Vice President Aaron Kiely and CEO Jo Sheppard.

The Queensland Premier announced several welcomed initiatives including a $50 million incentive program to help attract businesses to locate in the regions as well as investment in biosecurity and skills and training for agriculture.

Emerging themes from the Summits across all locations come as no surprise with health services, the housing shortage, water and energy security, land use planning, mobile coverage, natural disaster resilience, and the workforce and skills crisis topping the list of concerns voiced by speakers and attendees.

Specifically in relation to agriculture, there were calls for State Government Ministers to agree to push back the Murray-Darling Basin deadline to 2030 and not resort to water buybacks. There were also calls for further investments into supporting disaster preparedness and resilience, mobile coverage audits and protecting productive agricultural land for future generations.

Ian Davies, Chief Executive Officer of Senex, spoke strongly about the need to invest in a mix of energy sources in order to ensure energy security for communities and industry in the future, whilst keynote speaker, Gina Rinehart AO warned of the real costs of net zero.

Panellists Bryce Camm, Chair of Beef Australia, and Julia Spicer OAM, Queensland’s Chief Entrepreneur, hit the high notes articulating the opportunities on offer in the regions and the ability for communities to create their own narratives.

News Corp have committed to making the Bush Summit an annual event to contribute to an ongoing focus and discussion on the things that matter to the regions and to keep shining a spotlight on the topics raised during this year’s events.

The regions are not only valuable to the economy but also to the social fabric of Queensland communities. Significant opportunities and challenges lie ahead for regional Queensland, and it is important that those who live and do business in the regions have a say in what their communities will look like in years to come. A genuine and effective approach to community consultation is a must moving forward for farmers and all those who contribute to and rely upon a strong future for regional Queensland.