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SUBMISSION FROM SHIRE OF WYNDHAM EAST KIMBERLEY TO THE GREEN PAPER ON DEVELOPING
NORTHERN AUSTRALIA.
P.O. BOX 614
Kununurra
WA 6743
SUBMITTED 8 AUGUST 2014
INTRODUCTION
Further to our submission to the Joint Committee and subsequent discussion in Kununurra Western
Australia 7 May 2014 we wish to continue the dialogue on Developing Northern Australia offered
through the Green Paper submission process.
Of the six policy directions listed in the Green Paper we wish to comment on the following areas:
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Delivering economic infrastructure
Promoting trade and investment and strengthening the business environment
Fostering education, research and innovation
We have also noted that developing a united international marketing strategy for tourism Northern
Australia is identified as a key to unlocking future growth and development and links to the above
policy areas.
DELIVERING ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE.
Taking an East Kimberley specific approach we are closer to Darwin Northern Territory for many
goods and services than the WA capital Perth some 3500 kilometres away. Mobilisation costs for
infrastructure investment in roads for example can add another 70% to basic costs making projects
expensive. This factor is also complicated when you consider that funding for a financial year July to
June has most of the core months impacted by the wet season adding further delays and costs. We
work around this impediment by ensuring funders understand the northern differences and have
these differences reflected in contract milestones. Nevertheless it is an issue for future development
that funding needs to be across financial years and that cross regional collaboration to reduce
mobilisation costs through project staging is a given. With a whole of Northern Australia approach it
is expected that project costs could be reduced by having scale and by having the expertise and
equipment required based in the region.
Current East Kimberley projects underway include re-asphalting of the East Kimberley Regional
Airport runway funded by State Department of Transport. Through the Council endorsed Master
Plan future work is planned to extend the runway to enable larger planes to access the facility, this
future development has also been discussed with Infrastructure Australia. Taking a hub spoke model
to the larger Northern Australia region it is envisaged that the East Kimberley Regional Airport would
play a key role in ensuring that produce could move quickly by air from the East Kimberley to
international markets in the same time zone (Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Hong
Kong)
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Work is also underway to explore what role Katherine Northern Territory could play as a road, rail
and air hub to strengthen the ability to move goods more quickly for both domestic and
international customers. The same idea can also be used for coastal shipping and the role of the
Wyndham port in the East Kimberley has been covered in submissions made by Cambridge Gulf Ltd
to the Joint Committee hearing in Kununurra 7 May 2014.
Infrastructure for the East Kimberley must also address the need for integrated communication
technology roll-out. Fragmenting such services across different Departments both Federal and State
and then different Departments handling NBN issues, mobile coverage issues and even digital TV
conversion inhibits the ease required for both user adoption of new technology and also businesses
and agencies fully understanding the role such improvements can play in their operations.
The role such technologies will play in the future are all encompassing for example remote medical
technologies, educational linkages with Universities in Australia and around the world, greater
connectivity for residents and visitors for day to day living including better emergency services, and
applications for improved water and land management. This area is seen as a fundamental
infrastructure investment area as important as roads and ports.
This basic infrastructure will help determine the future shape of Northern Australia and links directly
to the policy area of:
FOSTERING EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
We are aware of the recently released report Creating Parity: Andrew Forrest Review but Council
have not as yet had a chance to fully examine the report.
The Shire’s 2012-2022 Strategic Community Plan shared with the Joint Committee identifies clearly
that one of the biggest opportunities is “to improve educational opportunities that will have long
term benefits for the region including the availability of locally trained employees”
Demographically there is a large decrease in the 15 to 19 year old group as young people move away
from town to go to high school. This is not unique to the East Kimberley but is expected to be a
pattern shared across Northern Australia. Locally work is underway to examine the development of
a Grammar School in the East Kimberley to help reverse this trend. Models under consideration
include much closer relationships with Universities in developing the learning models with links back
to the previous comments regarding the role technology can play.
In some ways the nature of the East Kimberley and other Northern Australian regions has required
residents over time to be innovative in how they have been able to adapt to the environment and its
challenges. For example the Kimberley region has a strong trading history with Indonesia with
Indigenous traders moving freely along the coast and trading in food and other goods.
Supporting Reference:
The Impact of Asian -Aboriginal Australian Contacts in Northern Australia*
Christine Choo
University of Western Australia Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol. 3, Nos. 2-3, 1994
In early days frozen meat was shipped to international markets from Wyndham and when the works
closed in 1986 live cattle started to be exported direct to Indonesian markets.
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Harnessing and recognising this Northern Australian history and culture is important for developing
a future vision. Where the value can be added, is in supporting people to move ideas into reality, to
test the ideas in a market and to share the potential business with investors.
Relationships with Asia are old relationships that can be built on if understood and acknowledged
and this is a strong asset that can be enhanced through research and by strong Indigenous
involvement in market development work.
Working closely with Universities is crucial to support commercialisation of research into business
concepts and operations a process that supports early adoption of new technologies and business
innovation. Global partnerships that support these concepts will be important for Northern Australia
so that research and innovation are closely linked to what goods and services are developed for
what markets and how market intelligence can change what is grown for example to meet new
emerging markets. High value niche markets for goods such as live fish able to be in a market a few
hours after leaving Australia can earn big export returns over large scale low value commodities. In
the North with irrigated agriculture and horticulture and potential sea, lake and land based
aquaculture the most important factor is recognising market pull for products that may never have
been thought of before and working out how this intelligence can be applied. The East Kimberley can
illustrate this using the superfood Chia example. Refer http://www.thechiaco.com.au/
PROMOTING TRADE AND INVESTMENT AND STRENGTHENING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT.
Given the proximity of the North to large and growing markets it is imperative that incentives are
given through either funding or taxation to companies that understand the need to develop closer
business relationships with companies that are involved in getting products from Australia to the
end consumer. Recognition of the rising middleclass in Indonesia (Green Paper p.19) has implications
for the live meat export trade as wet markets for meat will change with the increasing use of
domestic refrigeration in homes. Monitoring these changes at an industry level is important as is
understanding what are the next big trends to meet in these changing markets. This then gives rise
to investors from these countries seeking investment opportunities. Having a smart Northern
Australian wide agency able to act as broker for these relationships and reduce or remove any trade
barriers would enhance inwards investment. Such brokered deals can be wider than usual
commercial deals including research exchanges and labour incentives and if successful set up long
term relationships which change over time and become deeper in both economies.
Given the workload of the Free Trade Agreement agenda for Australia are there any opportunities
now for identifying Northern Australia as a special area for future discussions?
Any such developments using the North of Australia because of market proximity can benefit
everyone else domestically with southern based companies developing northern based partnerships.
Focussing attention on supporting a vibrant small business sector adds to the width and breadth of
the supply chain approach and also helps develop a responsive sector able to change and adapt
quickly to new needs and demands. There would be a need to review start-up conditions for SMEs
on the three jurisdictions to enable a strong SME sector to develop within each area and across the
whole Northern area.
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These concepts are not new and have been demonstrated in the Green Paper with specific examples
of how companies are responding and this is important as these innovators can be approached to
share their experiences and to encourage others.
TOURISM
For the East Kimberley Tourism has been identified as a key growth and important diversification
sector. Given the proximity to the Northern Territory visitor flows across the North are important to
the East Kimberley about 45% of annual visitors are camping and caravanning with many coming
across the top from Queensland and Northern Territory.
Since 2013 an Industry lead group East Kimberley Marketing has been developing a plan to increase
visitation to the area with an emphasis on improving linkages with Northern Territory in particular
given the route of travelling to the East Kimberley through Katherine in particular.
Currently Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia Tourism agencies compete with
each other domestically and internationally for visitors. The northern areas of all three jurisdictions
have more in common for a joint approach globally. Travel distances are close between Northern
airports and destinations such as Singapore where there are direct flights from Darwin for example.
It is seen as important that barriers to cross collaboration between businesses in different localities
are minimised so that innovative companies can work together to develop new products and visitor
experiences for the new emerging markets. Proximity to Asia removes the old barrier of distance
and as mentioned previously Northern Australia has a strong link with Asian countries based on
trade and family ties going back many generations.
CONCLUSION
The Shire covers an area of 121,000 square kilometres with a population base of some 7600 people.
It has been the recipient of substantial Federal and State investment in developing new social and
physical infrastructure over the last few years as Governments realise the strategic importance of
the area for future food production associated with Ord Stage 2. Argyle Diamond Mine and new
industries such as the Chia story mentioned earlier further consolidate the areas strategic
importance for future development. Registering its interest in the developing Northern Australia
debate is important to the Shire given its proximity to the Northern Territory and an acknowledged
need to work with others for future development such as Ord Stage 3.
We appreciate the opportunity to comment
The End
Reference
Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley Strategic Community Plan 2012-2022.
Christine Choo
The Impact of Asian -Aboriginal Australian Contacts in Northern Australia
University of Western Australia Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol. 3, Nos. 2-3, 1994