Wimmera Population Policy Taskforce forum puts decentralisation in spotlight

Real estate agent Bill Ower of Horsham was the first to speak at Friday’s forum in Horsham.

He said moving government departments from the city to regional and rural areas of the state should be a taskforce priority.

“That’s something I think rural areas lack in terms of attracting people,” he said.

A Federal Government Senate Inquiry into decentralisation of government agencies ran earlier this year.

Wimmera Development Association was among the groups to make a submission to the inquiry.

The agency called for some Grains Research and Development Corporation departments to relocate to Horsham, given the city’s grain industry links.

Association executive director Ralph Kenyon spoke about the issue again at Friday’s taskforce forum.

“Putting government departments in regional areas is one way the state government can influence population spread,” he said.

“But often they choose to put them in Ballarat or Geelong. There’s no reason why – with proper technology – state government departments can’t be relocated to the Wimmera.”

Nationals leader Peter Walsh said earlier this year the Coalition would appoint a decentralisation minister if it won next year’s state election.

Horsham Rural City Council’s John Martin said governments needed to understand places such as Ballarat and Geelong were cities, and not part of ‘regional’ Victoria.

Taskforce vice-chair Danny O’Brien said the Nationals were conscious of that in their policies and decision-making.