G’day RCA members and friends.
Well, we blinked and it’s suddenly March! We are three months into the year and RCA hasn’t wasted any time pushing our policy agenda; in a week’s time we will have lodged no less than four significant policy submissions to the Federal government in our drive to give regional capital cities a firm place in national policy.
Our March newsletter features an overview of these submissions, which include:
- RCA’s recommendations on how regional City Deals should be competitively assessed;
- RCA’s strategy for carving out a piece of the 2017-18 Budget for regional capital cities;
- Our examination of regions that are facing a tougher struggle than others in a ‘transitioning economy’ post-mining investment boom (a Productivity Commission study); and finally,
- RCA’s views on why and how government agencies can most effectively relocate to our regional cities, as part of a decentralisation senate inquiry called for by The Nationals.
Thanks to the feedback of both our executive board and wider membership, we are now finalising our 2017 Advocacy and Membership Strategy. This will document our plan to see regional capital cities reflected in the trifecta of regional policy, urban policy, and national infrastructure development plans. More details will be available on this in our next edition of our newsletter.
On March 21, we have our next delegation of board members heading to Canberra – pre budget – to brief key RCA stakeholders on these priorities.
We already have so much on the go for 2017, and I feel optimistic about the strong position we are in to go forth, influence and shape national policy for regional capital cities.
As always, please drop me a line if there are exciting policy developments happening in your own cities – RCA is always keen to promote the successes of our member cities.