Many essential service providers, including the government, are “abandoning” rural towns like Naracoorte in South Australia.
Many regional towns in the South East are losing—or have already lost—essential services such as banking, postal, Medicare, Centrelink, resident health specialists, TAFE and other tertiary education providers, telecommunications, along with many others.
And now, it’s the face-to-face police services.
Many providers are operating on reduced hours or have gone completely online.
With connectivity and reliable internet service being a big challenge both in regional towns and throughout rural areas, many people, including seniors and those without reliable phone and internet, have no alternative to face-to-face service.
As a result, many of our citizens are being referred to metropolitan centres to access these critical services requiring round trips of two to eight hours of travel.
But what is the reason for this “pandemic”?
Why are our regional towns becoming unattractive, and has the government become city-centric?
In this edition of Hard Talk, The [Naracoorte] News explores the reasons behind our failure to attract essential service providers and to ensure they remain committed to our communities and what could be done to hold these service providers true to their commitment and accountable.
We asked Naracoorte Lucindale Council mayor Patrick Ross, Minister for Regional Development Clare Scriven, Shadow Minister for Regional South Australia Nicola Centofanti, and Federal Member for Barker Tony Pasin why our towns are losing essential service providers and what needs to be done to help our frustrated communities.
The [Naracoorte] News asked:
- What could be the reason behind the loss of essential services in many regional towns in the South East?
- What can governments (state/federal) do to ensure services stay in country areas?
- What is the government currently doing to reverse the trend and encourage service providers to remain in our country towns and communities?
- The younger generation seems to be moving away from regional areas “because of a brighter future” and equitable access to reliable services like health, education, and career opportunities. What can be done to reverse this trend and ensure our young population remains as they did previously?
- What is your message to the many essential service providers who do serve our communities and enjoy a relaxed country lifestyle?
The responses
Lack of understanding of regional communities: Federal Member of Barker, Tony Pasin
Mr Pasin told The [Naracoorte] News that the biggest disparity was the lack of understanding of regional communities and an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality by decision-makers, which was to the detriment of communities and not in the national interest.
“From our banks, telecommunication network operators, or our major airlines, to government ministers in Canberra and Adelaide, rural and regional representation in boardrooms and Labor Government cabinets is lacking,” Mr Pasin said.
As a result, he said strategic policy directions were focused on centralised services that delivered economies of scale and a high return on investment.
“It is imperative that decision-makers understand the value our regions bring to our nation and the importance of not only sustaining them but encouraging growth.
“Australia’s regions can play a significant role in taking population pressures off the major capital cities and helping rebalance the growth of the nation’s population, but only if we can invest in services and infrastructure to ensure our regions are attractive to workers and their families.
“Investing in our regions, which leads to regional population growth, will then lead to economic development and prosperity and a continued upward spiral of growth.
“That’s why I’ve been focused on delivering public investment into amenities that make communities in Barker great places to live, work, and raise a family.
“I’ve fought for funding to improve our roads, like the Smith Street roundabouts and the Riddoch Highway overtaking lanes; shared community spaces like the Francis Town square; the Naracoorte Swimming Lake upgrades; and infrastructure that boosts the visitor economy, such as Naracoorte Caves and the Volunteer Firefighter’s Museum.”
I am aware of the situation: Minister for Regional Development Clare Scriven
When quizzed about what her office was doing about the South East, Ms Scriven told this newspaper [Naracoorte News] that she was aware that there were issues faced by the regional communities, including the loss of essential services, in many South East towns prompted by declining populations/shifts in local demographics and skilled workforce shortages.
“South Australians are proud of our regions and the economic powerhouse they drive for prosperity across the state,” she said.
Ms Scriven said the success in building on South Australia’s talent needed liveable and connected regions, by retaining and attracting residents to regional towns and communities through ensuring the right infrastructure and services.
“To understand the constantly changing realities for regional communities, I have been meeting with people living and working across regional South Australia, including here in the South East, listening to their stories and experiences, and seeing where we can adjust our response to the feedback I’m hearing.
“I am focused on working with our Limestone Coast communities to look at how we achieve an environment for vibrant regional community life, including different ways of delivering services.”
She told The [Naracoorte] News she was also looking at expanding the key regional industries, including agriculture, food, wine, forestry, fishing, aquaculture, and tourism through initiatives aimed at boosting local economies through strong regional production, leading to job creation and exciting career paths that would encourage people to live and work within regional communities.
“We also need to strengthen awareness among our young people who call the South East home, of the training and employment/career pathways that are already on offer in the region.
“This is not just a role for all levels of government but one for the whole community—parents, teachers, business owners, and training providers.
“A good example of boosting this information to young people has been the recently launched joint government/industry initiative, This is Wood Work, designed to inform and attract job seekers about the multitude of forest industry jobs and careers.
“People are the future of not only this vitally important industry for the South East, but all local industries.”
She said ensuring vibrant regional communities was also behind the government’s $15million a year Thriving Regions Fund and its sub-programs Thriving Communities, Strengthening Industries, Enabling Infrastructure—all aimed at supporting projects that enable regional industries to grow jobs and strengthen regional communities.
“While the State Government has allocated a further $2million over two years for Regional Development Australia to continue the placed-based Regional Leadership Development program to empower a greater diversity of leaders in regional South Australia.
“For those already living and working within our South East communities, I thank you for your commitment, which I know, as someone who calls this region home, will give back to you many times through gratitude, friendship, and support.”
However, the minister says we all have work to do.
“We all have work to do, and one thing you can do is tell your friends who may be living in the cities about how making that tree or sea change provides a wealth of opportunities along with a breath of experience, cheaper housing, short commute times, and, best of all, a beautiful environment that is your backyard.”
According to the minister, the state government has recently announced a suite of developments in the South East. These include:
- Works underway on the $8million upgrade of Naracoorte Hospital, which will deliver much-needed new clinical and patient spaces for the community, including significant improvements in Accident and Emergency.
- $5.5 million to boost connectivity in the Limestone Coast.
- An unused former TAFE building in Naracoorte is set to be transformed into an early learning childcare centre with a $500,000 grant from the State Government’s Enabling Infrastructure program.
Rapid progress is being made in the delivery of dozens of new homes for frontline workers across regional South Australia. Construction is underway on development sites in the South East, the Copper Coast, and Port Augusta, whilst works will begin in the coming days on five homes in the Riverland.
Builders have also just been appointed on key projects at Ceduna and a second project in Mt Gambier, which will deliver a further eight homes across these two regions.
It’s frustrating; something needs to be done: Naracoorte Lucindale Council mayor, Patrick Ross
In an interview with this newspaper [Naracoorte News], Mr Ross claimed that there has been a consistent approach to abandoning regional and rural Australia by those who provide essential services.
“They (service providers) are abandoning the communities that rely on them to supply major services. These major services include car, water, and telecommunications, and also, beyond that, the general Centrelink services that people require on an ongoing basis,” he said.
Mr Ross said the state and federal governments needed to recognise this.
“I understand that Australia is a big place, and when you abandon, when the banks leave, when the service providers leave and become contactless, when you have to go down such a myriad of hold and wait and transfer, it just becomes increasingly frustrating for those of us who live in regional and rural areas.
“It is absolutely unacceptable, and if only our government would recognise that and tell us at the next time we go to the polls that they are not going to abandon us or continue to abandon us and that they are going to continue to provide services that we, the people of Australia, deserve,” he said.
He claimed there was no consistency in our banking system about who is open and when.
“Just recently I received a letter from People’s Choice that due to demand for our services, we are reducing them.
“There is no consistency in our banking system about who is open and when.
“I actually suggested here at council that we should perhaps, once a quarter, go to the bank, and we should withdraw the cash and pay all our employees with the brown paper bag.
“That in itself was going to be problematic, because, as you know, many people, as their money goes to their bank accounts on a fortnightly basis, there are automatic deductions taken out for rent, telephone, water, etc.
“So, all of a sudden, the digital world is taking control of your money, and at the same time the availability of cash should not be limited in the banking sector.”
Mr Ross said one of his greatest concerns was our impending total reliance on a digital world.
“…totally out of our control, run not by a sovereign nation, that if someone turns the switch off, or if the switch is turned off, there would be chaos within an hour.
“That is my greatest fear – that individuals will not have the capacity to be able to carry on normal existence without the digital overseeing their every move of life.”
Our government has become “city-centric”: Shadow Minister for Regional South Australia, Nicola Centofanti
Ms Centofanti says critically that it is these essential services that are just that—“essential.” They are essential for building and strengthening regional communities.
“These services are often the backbone of small towns and rural communities, providing critical support to farmers, small businesses, and families, and without them regional communities decline in population further,” she told The News.
Ms Centofanti said her view was that the current government was ignoring these critical challenges within our regional communities because it was consistently “city-centric.”
“Historically, many regional towns relied heavily on agriculture, mining, and other primary industries. However, changing market conditions, environmental challenges, and technological advancements have reduced the number of jobs in these sectors.
“With automation in agriculture and resource extraction, fewer people are required to work in these areas,” she said.
And this, coupled with insufficient government support for infrastructure and regional development, she said, had led to stagnation and, in many cases, retraction of regional communities.
“Many regional areas also lack investment in innovation or diversification, limiting the growth of non-primary sector industries like technology, manufacturing, or tourism.
“The retraction in population then leads to other essential services not having the required ‘throughput” to sustain what are still businesses—services such as banks, resident health specialists, TAFE and other tertiary education providers, telecommunications, along with many others.
“The essential services are the backbone of small towns and rural communities, providing critical support to farmers, small businesses, and families, and without them, regional communities would decline in population even further.
“For people in the country, these services closing is a big problem, and it is having a devastating impact on many people in these communities, many of who suffer from connectivity challenges, making internet banking less viable.
“The importance of maintaining all key services to regional Australia cannot be overstated.”
What is the solution?
Ms Centofanti said to ensure that services remained available in country areas, governments (both state and federal) could implement a range of policies and strategies that addressed the unique challenges faced by regional communities.
“These measures should focus on infrastructure, economic development, service delivery, and community sustainability.
“Governments can play a pivotal role in ensuring that services remain in country areas by investing in infrastructure, supporting local economies, and fostering long-term growth. Strategic initiatives that target rural communities’ specific needs—such as healthcare access, education, transport, and economic diversification—can help ensure the sustainability of these towns and improve their appeal to both current and future residents.”
She said regional towns frequently suffered from poor access to healthcare, education, and other critical services.
“Many young families move to urban centres where these services are more accessible and of higher quality. Without these services, it becomes difficult to attract or retain younger populations, which further hampers growth.
“Governments of all persuasions need to ensure that there is equity in services across the state. However, before this can be done, we need to know what our regions are missing. This is something that the Liberal Opposition has identified as an existing shortfall and is currently working on.”
In her message to the many essential service providers who serve our communities and enjoy a relaxed country lifestyle, Ms Centofanti said they were appreciated.
“Essential services don’t stop. While some of us are lucky enough to have time off over the summer, I want to extend a heartful thank you to all who keep our regional communities running.
“Essential service workers are incredibly valued in regional communities. If you keep your local supermarket stocked, your health clinic doors open, and the one main street pharmacy dispensing, please know that in regional SA you are appreciated.
“Of course, this same appreciation extends to those who work (paid or voluntarily) in our emergency service. With more people on our regional roads around the holidays and dry conditions causing heightened fire danger, it is important we remember and acknowledge those out there protecting our communities.”
This newspaper [Naracoorte News] also gave an opportunity to the South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, Federal Minister for Regional Development Catherine King, and Federal Shadow Minister for Regional Development Bridget McKenzie to contribute to the leader’s debate. No responses were received when this edition went to press.
This article appeared in the Naracoorte News.