The ink was barely dry on the federal election results before the embattled State Government hit the hustings, with Premier, Kristina Keneally, and Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, addressing regional issues in Bathurst, starting on election eve.
Attending the Country Business Forum – a follow-up to the job summit held in Bathurst in November 2009 – Ms Keneally released revised regional business growth plans for the Central West, Orana, the Far West, Northern Inland, Riverina, and Murray regions.
Ms Keneally said since the plans were released in 2008 to support regional growth, country NSW employment had increased.
She released a document titled NSW Country Business Forum 2010, which promotes government spending and initiatives in rural and regional NSW.
The 18-page document lists business and jobs growth, improving transport, efficient water management, skills and training, infrastructure to support sustainable growth of industry, and regional business growth plans as priorities.
Ms Keneally said the updated plans provided a blueprint for future sustainable population growth in the west, identified infrastructure, land use and planning needs, and tackled skills, industry and business development issues.
She said projects helped by the Government’s $7 million Regional Business Employment Fund would help businesses such as Mulyan Pty Ltd’s intensive horticultural operation in Cowra and Manildra Packing Pty Ltd’s new vegetable oil packing plant.
Speaking in Parliament last week, Mr Roozendaal said newly-released Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed economic growth in NSW of 5.7 per cent outstripped the national average of 5.3pc.
“NSW has seen six consecutive quarters of growth in economic activity,” he said.
The Keneally Government’s focus has more recently been on the Central Coast, with a range of business and industrial initiatives announced, as the Premier brushed off record low poll results and finger-pointing that NSW Labor was to blame for Julia Gillard’s failure to secure a majority.
Meanwhile, NSW Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan last week reported a bumper harvest could deliver a record $2.8 billion winter crop for the State.
“That’s more than double the annual average of the last drought-stricken decade – just 7.1 per cent of the State is officially drought declared,” he said.
“With healthy prices, record plantings and a predicted best-ever 12 million tonne yield, the estimated crop income would be a major, long-awaited injection into the NSW regional economy.
“The predicted $1.8 billion wheat crop represents three-quarters of the overall plantings and almost two-thirds of the estimated harvest value – and would be the highest value wheat crop ever produced in NSW.”
He said the State crop comprised 2.95m hectares of wheat, 316,500ha of canola, 782,000ha of barley, and 337,000ha of chickpeas.
“While there is still a way to go before the harvest is complete and the money is in the bank, this has been the best start for the winter crop in years,” he said.
“Locusts, fungal diseases and waterlogging are the risks still facing our farmers this season – but these challenges are less daunting than those posed by the lengthy drought.”
Finding locusts early would be crucial to the success of strategies to combat what was expected to be the worst locust plague in 30 years, he said.
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