Rural Australia 2012
Open Forum | October 2, 2012
More than 89 per cent of Australians now live in urban areas, making it one of the most urbanised nations on earth. It’s surprising then how much of our national identity is based on images of dirt roads, wool-fat sheep and windmills in the sunset.
Although not many of us live there, statistics from the Rural Reserach and Development Council show that rural Australia contributes more than 12 per cent of GDP to the Australian economy, makes up 14 per cent of exports and employs 17 per cent of our workforce.
Australian rural businesses have evolved to be some of the most innovative in the world, working to more efficiently feed the world’s growing population. This investment in research and development has provided primary producers with a competitive advantage in the global market.
Modern farmers have also changed from being abusers of the land to guardians of the earth by recognising the importance of environmental sustainability of Australia’s primary production systems.
Open Forum will look at how this culture of innovation impacts us all, from year-round fruit availability to warmer woollen jumpers and safer food production. We will feature blogs on rural issues from a wide range of authors, all of whom have an interest in improving rural businesses, lives and infrastructure.
If you would like to take part in the discussion, please contact Lynne Hughes to discuss your blog ideas.
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Open Forum is a policy discussion website produced by Global Access Partners – Australia’s Institute for Active Policy. We welcome contributions and invite you to submit a blog to the editor and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Mastadon.
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RogerHussey
October 13, 2012 at 10:32 am
The people are becoming more
The people are becoming more and more ambitious these days. They tend to dream more about the luxurious life in cities. So more people are migrating towards cities these days. That is why most of the cities are facing space problems these days.
dilligaf
February 14, 2013 at 8:58 pm
watering australia
I am just sick to death of all the freshwater that is just running out to the saltwater ocean.The best case of this is the clarence river in n.s.w.Back in the 20’s they proposed cutting a tunnel and diverting the headwaters into the gywdir river and then a huge pipe or open channel to the darling[australia’s biggest river] and then it would be a matter of raising the entire weir system one at a time with decent lock gates so that when there is a big flood they can be opened and the river flushed.Can you even imagine how much water even a half a metre raise in the weir wall would do!
dilligaf
February 22, 2013 at 9:13 pm
coming back out of the cave[again]
I can remember back before Whitlams reds buggered this country we still had visions and ideas.We need to finally put the reds to bed and take back this country.First we need to undo what the u.n. has done to us,bring the cane back into schools as kids need discipline and the general public needs boundaries.We need to undo most of what whitlam and his comrades put in place because it was all designed to weaken australia and it has in so many ways.The main thing is to free up the 60 billion dollars we are currently wasting on centrelink.Put those people in the army and use that money to stop the total waste of freshwater that runs out to the sea via our many rivers.We have a very poor heavy freight system and that must be fixed by better rail systems in conjunction with road transport.The roads are apalling for a first world nation and we have very few dams and truthfully are way overgoverned by people that should be taking residence back in the monkey cages at a zoo!Also you would be advised to take a look at the family law act passed by whitlam’s crowd and medicare[which has never worked].You cannot give people something for nothing-abuse will be rife]
websitepete
April 6, 2013 at 8:17 am
Suburbia Is Madness
I moved from the city to rural Victoria 10 years ago. Unfortunately my family and many friends still live in the Suburbs in various directions from Melbourne…. So l visit them and when l do l see new estates all the time and you can not help but notice the terrible traffic jambs on just about every main road you travel on. I think it is pure madness and Government and local councils have a lot to answer for. More estates keep popping up and backyards become a "dual occupancy" sites means that there are more and more people squeezed into the same volume of area and greater stresses placed on the existing infrastructure. State and Federal Governments need to put a lot more thought and planning into what is all ready a problem and a massive inconvenience on the people living in the suburbs, but without some real answer the problems will only get bigger. Why not buy a lovely property in rural Victoria and start enjoying life that little bit more…..