Pilbara resource development highlights importance of regional development

10/9/96

The prospect of a new era of major resource development in the Pilbara presented planners with a golden opportunity to place a sharper focus on the importance of regional development, Deputy Premier and Regional Development Minister Hendy Cowan said today.

Officially closing the Pilbara Conference in Karratha, Mr Cowan said Australia could no longer afford to foster city development to the extent that there were relatively fewer and fewer people living outside the major cities.

"If we do not become serious about real regional development and strive to make regional areas places where people can and want to make their homes, then Australian society will continue to be dominated by those living in half a dozen metropolitan cities," the Minister said.

"It is a poor reflection on decision-makers of the past that a State the size of Western Australia, with its wealth of natural resources, diverse living environments, skilled workforce and technological sophistication, can develop only one major city."

The Pilbara presented great opportunities for regional population growth.

"For the Pilbara is no longer a place to which people will come just to work, save a nest egg, and leave," Mr Cowan said.

"The Pilbara is becoming a place where people are prepared to make a more permanent commitment."

Mr Cowan said the Pilbara Development Commission had played a valuable role by convening the Pilbara Conference as a way of bringing planners and decision makers together to consider regional development issues.

For the future of Australia, it was critical that facilities and conditions in regional areas be equal to or better than those in the cities, to encourage people to leave the perceived comfort zone of the major population centres.

Mr Cowan also commended the Pilbara Development Commission for commissioning a major regional economic development plan, which he launched today.

The plan sets nine objectives for the further economic development of the region and strategies for their achievement.

The objectives relate to diversification of the regional economy; education, health, housing and social issues; infrastructure development; exploiting the Pilbara's competitive advantages and generating opportunities for Aboriginal people.

A Pilbara Land Use Strategy was also released today which will be open for public comment until November 29.

Copies of the Regional Development Plan and the Land Use Strategy are available from the Pilbara Development Commission.

Media contact: Peter Jackson 222 8788