Bega Valley Mayor Kristy McBain has championed the case of federal government departments moving out of Canberra and into the shire before a Senate hearing.
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Appearing before the hearing into the decentralisation of government services to regional centres, held in Parliament House, Canberra, last Friday, Mayor McBain said the potential benefit for small towns such as Eden was huge.
Cr McBain said that if the federal government took the lead on decentralisation, private investment would follow.
But for the plan to work the departments would need to have a "natural fit" with the shire, the mayor said. It would make no sense for the Department of Foreign Affairs, for example, to relocate out of Canberra, but there was a definite synergy between the Bega shire and portfolios such as tourism, agriculture and fisheries.
Decentralising government services to regional cities and towns, which already had sizeable populations, would have a much lesser benefit than moving public servants to small towns such as Eden and Bega, she said.
The influx of potentially hundreds of public servant jobs and the flow-on, from the building of new offices and housing to retail spending, would be a “game-changer” for these smaller towns, she said. Conversely, “Canberra would not feel the loss of 400 or so jobs”.
“From construction of government office infrastructure, to new employment opportunities for local people and increased spending due to an increased population, we will witness a level of heightened and sustained growth,” she said.
“With the Bega Valley Shire’s close proximity to the Canberra region we are well poised to offer the people, space, lifestyle and amenities to be a successful satellite location for government offices,” she said.
Cr McBain said the Begal Valley Shire was under-represented in the 18-25 year-old age group in terms of the population and in the 25-34 year-old workforce; in addition, many of the jobs were seasonal or casual.
“If government agencies relocated here it would offer real career opportunities,” she said.