tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/rural-australia-13143/articlesRural Australia – The Conversation2023-02-23T03:01:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1999842023-02-23T03:01:20Z2023-02-23T03:01:20ZWhy do small rural communities often shun newcomers, even when they need them?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511551/original/file-20230221-20-7q3yiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=585%2C6%2C3416%2C2257&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: Saleena Ham</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you remember the time you and your friends started a secret club and didn’t let anyone else join? Well, it’s kind of like that in some small rural communities. Even though these communities really need to attract and keep newcomers, some longstanding residents belong to a special “locals” club. Many newcomers who moved from the cities in recent years would know this all too well.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10371656.2022.2061723">My research</a> to understand the experience of newcomers in small towns found a few common themes in what happened to them. It found social identity was a factor that can often inhibit progress, resilience and acceptance of change in rural social groups. </p>
<p>Locals are regarded as the legitimate residents and often have greater local power and privileged status. They can be used to calling the shots for the community. They may hold back change by undermining or failing to accept or support new people, their ideas or businesses.</p>
<p>Newcomers can be intrinsically disruptive to the old and comfortable social norms of small towns. While newcomers want to show their value as residents by offering their new ideas or experience, these are not welcomed by locals because they disrupt the status quo and make them uncomfortable. </p>
<p>I interviewed <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/rj/RJ22023">89 residents and recent residents</a> in two rural Queensland communities with populations under 2,000. The locals often say newcomers or outsiders don’t have a right to have a say about the town and certainly not to make changes. They question their social legitimacy and tell stories of their inferiority as residents. </p>
<p>Even when newcomers manage to make a difference, the locals can ignore, criticise or undermine their achievements.</p>
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<img alt="Two horses stand in a paddock in front of homes in a small town" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511546/original/file-20230221-14-wkgv06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=464%2C0%2C3398%2C2268&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511546/original/file-20230221-14-wkgv06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511546/original/file-20230221-14-wkgv06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511546/original/file-20230221-14-wkgv06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511546/original/file-20230221-14-wkgv06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511546/original/file-20230221-14-wkgv06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511546/original/file-20230221-14-wkgv06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">People who move to a small town hoping for a quiet life as part of a close-knit community might be in for a shock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: Saleena Ham</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-just-do-it-how-do-e-changers-feel-about-having-left-the-city-now-lockdowns-are-over-188009">'Let's just do it': how do e-changers feel about having left the city now lockdowns are over?</a>
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<h2>How are newcomers undermined?</h2>
<p>In one town, a newcomer became the leader of a business group. He had experience, was energetic, accessed grants and consulted to develop a plan. But then problem after problem was found with it. It was suggested the whole process begin again. He could not move the business community forward to adopt the plan.</p>
<p>They wore him down. He was burned out by their active and passive resistance. After a couple of years, he ended his community involvement, exactly as the locals expected, because he “was not local”.</p>
<p>In another community, a new catering business opened. The locals thought it was too much like the city, certainly too flash for this little place. They made bookings without turning up, complained to the local council that bylaws were broken, suggested one partner was having an affair, and shared rumours of poor hygiene practice. </p>
<p>The business made social connections with other new businesses and created local events, attracting outsiders. The owners experimented, marketed, found clientele beyond the town and survived, but it was very tough when it did not need to be. </p>
<p>The locals undermine, censure and attack, in overt or subtle ways, newcomers who are seeking to belong and contribute until they become disillusioned or just withdraw. Businesses fail and people leave. The small community stays the same, familiar and declining, and the locals are happy because they were proved right about the newcomers.</p>
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<img alt="Main street of a small country town" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511327/original/file-20230221-24-2rbujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511327/original/file-20230221-24-2rbujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511327/original/file-20230221-24-2rbujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511327/original/file-20230221-24-2rbujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511327/original/file-20230221-24-2rbujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511327/original/file-20230221-24-2rbujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511327/original/file-20230221-24-2rbujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Newcomers can revitalise a small town, but that doesn’t ensure they’ll be made to feel welcome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-young-women-say-no-to-rural-australia-100760">Why young women say no to rural Australia</a>
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<h2>Why do residents behave like this?</h2>
<p>One reason this happens is because people who live in small communities feel so attached to their community. It is as if it’s an extension of themselves. </p>
<p>So, when someone new comes in and wants to change things, it feels personal. The people who have lived there for a long time read it as a personal attack that threatens their values, stories, history, status and privileges. They feel like they have to defend their story of their special community from the outsiders and anything they might want to introduce. They resist and repel in order to unconsciously protect and defend their place in the secret insiders’ club.</p>
<p>Change can make people feel socially uncertain. Uncertainty about identity can make people feel like they have to act to protect what they know and love: it’s who they are. </p>
<p>It can seem like they’re being senselessly mean and self-sabotaging, but they see it as necessary and justified to protect the familiar qualities and social order of their community or social group. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511547/original/file-20230221-18-2j01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511547/original/file-20230221-18-2j01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511547/original/file-20230221-18-2j01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511547/original/file-20230221-18-2j01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511547/original/file-20230221-18-2j01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511547/original/file-20230221-18-2j01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511547/original/file-20230221-18-2j01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many small towns need to attract new residents to prosper, but some existing residents resent changes to their social order.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: Saleena Ham</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-in-lockdown-but-is-moving-to-the-country-right-for-you-148807">It seemed like a good idea in lockdown, but is moving to the country right for you?</a>
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<h2>Why should communities welcome newcomers?</h2>
<p>Newcomers also want to belong. They want friendship, to be themselves, acknowledged and accepted. They want to build community, contribute ideas, initiatives and effort. These things are vital for small communities to survive and stay vibrant.</p>
<p>Fear of social censure for breaking the local social norms <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-02/facebook-regional-admins-say-misinformation-hurting-communities/100460662">flows into many other small town subjects</a>: rejection of new agricultural practices, exclusion of the socially different, opposition to new business, rejection of developing precincts or modernising services. </p>
<p>Rural locals describe themselves as traditionalists, old school, practical. They expect to embrace hardship, inconvenience and loss as their unique identity. They see their group as morally superior to others. </p>
<p>This also makes it hard for people inside the secret club to get help when they struggle with mental health, financial failure, domestic abuse or grief. If they break the identity norms, will they be shamed or mocked? </p>
<p>Stoicism and resilience is integral to the secret club’s membership. Who are you if you can’t hack hardship? Can you still belong?</p>
<p>So, next time you hear about an unfriendly small rural community that undermines change, remember that it might be a social identity issue. They may be acting to protect their special insiders’ status and familiar way of life. </p>
<p>And small community members could remember that welcoming and reaching out to a newcomer or outsider may make all the difference to both that individual’s social success and the future of the community.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/has-covid-really-caused-an-exodus-from-our-cities-in-fact-moving-to-the-regions-is-nothing-new-154724">Has COVID really caused an exodus from our cities? In fact, moving to the regions is nothing new</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Saleena Ham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many small towns badly need to attract new blood to prosper. Yet some residents are so bound up in their community – it’s part of their identity – that they struggle with the changes newcomers bring.Dr Saleena Ham, Adjunct Research Fellow, Rural Sociology, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2002512023-02-22T02:54:12Z2023-02-22T02:54:12ZAs livestock theft becomes a growing problem in rural Australia, new technologies offer hope<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511521/original/file-20230221-26-ytz7u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/NSW drought stock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week, it was reported that 700 sheep with an estimated value of $140,000, including nearly 200 valuable merino ewes, were stolen from a Victorian property in a highly sophisticated <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-16/livestock-thieves-steal-hundreds-of-sheep-rural-victoria/101982058">rural crime operation</a>. Such <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-06/northern-territory-katherine-cattle-theft/101128430">large-scale rural theft</a> is <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/livestock-theft-leaves-sheepish-farmers-calling-for-action-20220601-p5aqaz.html">increasingly common</a>. </p>
<p>Rural crime is not isolated to certain states. Rather, stock theft is an Australian problem. Evidence from these large-scale thefts shows that offenders use “corridors” across state borders to move stolen rural property and livestock great distances.</p>
<p>Surveys conducted in <a href="https://express.adobe.com/page/H4jeQ3vvA7bsO/">Victoria</a> and <a href="https://express.adobe.com/page/zsV05pknxXl7N/">New South Wales</a> found 70% and 80% of farmers had experienced some type of farm crime in their lifetime, and experienced this victimisation repeatedly. </p>
<p>While farmers experience a variety of crimes, including trespass and illegal shooting on their properties, acquisitive crime – stock theft in particular – is one of the most common crimes faced by farmers.</p>
<p>The impact of “farm crime” is significant. Not only is the farming sector important to the <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/snapshot-of-australian-agriculture-2022">Australian economy</a>, but such crimes can have devastating financial, psychological and physical <a href="https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/7162182">impacts on farmers</a>, rural landowners and communities. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crime-is-rife-on-farms-yet-reporting-remains-stubbornly-low-heres-how-new-initiatives-are-making-progress-158421">Crime is rife on farms, yet reporting remains stubbornly low. Here's how new initiatives are making progress</a>
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<h2>Why does it happen?</h2>
<p>The high rates of theft in farming communities can be explained by <a href="https://express.adobe.com/page/zsV05pknxXl7N/">unique geographic and cultural factors</a> influencing the incidence and response to crime. </p>
<p>Let’s consider geography in more detail. Rational choice theory suggests offenders make decisions to commit crimes by weighing the risks and rewards. The goal of crime prevention then is to increase risks and lower rewards. </p>
<p>In a busy city, for example, crime prevention might include tools such as locks, motion lights or CCTV, while the many people going about their business may deter criminals simply by being present. </p>
<p>The presence of formal guardians, such as the police or security guards, may serve to deter crime too. The urban environment can also be designed and built in such a way as to discourage crime by limiting hiding places, exit points and escape routes. </p>
<p>The rural environment flips all of this on its head. It is often not possible to implement traditional crime prevention tools given the vast amount of wide-open space, nor are locks or gates always practical on a busy working farm. </p>
<p>The low population density means there are very few “eyes in the paddock” to witness and deter crime. A formal police presence is even more sparse, with slower response times than in urban areas. </p>
<p>The environment itself is also less conducive to crime prevention through evironmental design due to limited and spread-out infrastructure combined with a myriad of access points. </p>
<p>When we add all of this together, the risk-reward calculation for committing crimes such as stock theft in rural areas is often very favourable to offenders. </p>
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<h2>What can we do about it?</h2>
<p>Innovations in policing and agricultural technology appear to offer some promising progress to combat farm crime. </p>
<p>The NSW Police have a dedicated <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RuralCrimeNSWPF/">Rural Crime Prevention Team</a>. It’s comprised of officers with cultural and practical knowledge of rural industry and the necessary training, skills and expertise to deal with farm crime. </p>
<p>This team has deployed innovative <a href="https://www.beefcentral.com/news/nsw-police-launches-operation-stock-check-to-combat-livestock-theft/">techniques</a> to fight rural crime, and their efforts have contributed to <a href="https://ruralcriminology.org/index.php/IJRC/article/view/9106">increases in satisfaction</a> with the police and, most importantly, in the reporting of rural crime by farmers. </p>
<p>Despite this, police are still operating in an environment that presents serious difficulties in preventing, investigating and clearing farm crime. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-hunters-are-a-bigger-problem-on-farms-than-animal-activists-so-why-arent-we-talking-about-that-126513">Illegal hunters are a bigger problem on farms than animal activists – so why aren't we talking about that?</a>
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<p>There are two key issues at work. The first is that farmers may check on stock only intermittently, and so be unaware of a theft for some time. The second is difficulty in tracking and identifying stolen stock. </p>
<p>New technology offers some solutions here. The Centre for Rural Criminology (UNE) staged a <a href="https://cpb-ap-se2.wpmucdn.com/blog.une.edu.au/dist/3/1351/files/2022/09/Ceres-Tag-An-Evaluation-for-the-Prevention-Interruption-and-Reduction-of-Livestock-Theft.pdf">mock theft of livestock</a>, with a live police intervention, to evaluate the ability of a <a href="https://cerestag.com/">smart animal ear tag</a> to combat stock theft. The results were <a href="https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2022/09/report-released-on-stock-theft-prevention-ear-tag">very promising</a>. </p>
<p>Using the movement and location data provided by the tag, the farmers were alerted to the stock theft within minutes of the thieves entering the paddock. This enabled a rapid and effective response and recovery by the police.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://stoktake.au/">new technology</a> applies <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/11/2365">facial recognition</a> to stock by drawing on small variations in the shape and patterns of a <a href="https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2021/12/facial-recognition-comes-for-cattle">their muzzle</a>, which are as distinct as a human fingerprint. </p>
<p>Farmers are able to capture photos of livestock using a smartphone or tablet, then upload this to an AI-powered cloud platform to identify animals. Ideally, law enforcement could use this image recognition technology to identify stolen cattle and return them to their owners. </p>
<p>The theft of stock is a serious and growing problem in Australia. Large-scale and sophisticated thefts are being reported with increasing frequency and farmers, rural communities and the Australian economy suffer from this. </p>
<p>Dedicated policing efforts in combination with new agricultural technologies may increase the risks of committing farm crimes and turn the tables on the offenders.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The mock-theft research trial conducted by the Centre for Rural Criminology discussed in this article was funded, in part, by Ceres Tag. Kyle Mulrooney and Alistair Harkness are co-directors of the Centre for Rural Criminology at the University of New England.</span></em></p>Preventing theft on farms is much more difficult than in urban areas for many reasons – but new technological developments may help curb the crimes.Kyle J.D. Mulrooney, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Co-director of the Centre for Rural Criminology, University of New EnglandAlistair Harkness, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Co-Director of the Centre for Rural Criminology, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1920972023-01-10T03:41:27Z2023-01-10T03:41:27ZVince Copley had a vision for a better Australia – and he helped make it happen, with lifelong friend Charles Perkins<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503740/original/file-20230110-20-f2g4xr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3988%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Clockwise from left: Curramulka Community Club, St Francis House, book cover (ABC Books), Flinders University, State Library of New South Wales</span> </figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people.</em></p>
<p>In his memoir’s final chapter, Vince Copley wonders: if the first legal marriage of an Aboriginal woman and a white man had been socially accepted in the 1850s, would his own wife have been spared being pushed to the end of the 1970s bank queue because she was with him, a blackfella? Would that real estate agent have considered their application instead of throwing it straight in the bin? Would their daughter have been spared the schoolyard bullying and their son the name-calling? </p>
<p>Copley is descended (through his grandmother Maisie May Edwards, nee Adams) from <a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-kudnarto-the-kaurna-woman-who-made-south-australian-legal-history-185390">Kudnarto</a>, the Kaurna woman who married shepherd Thomas Adams on 27 January 1848, in South Australia’s first legal marriage between an Aboriginal woman and a colonist. His ancestral connections included Ngadjuri, Narungga, and Ngarrindjeri.</p>
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<p><em>Review: The Wonder of Little Things – Vince Copley and Lea McInerney (ABC Books)</em></p>
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<p>Readers of <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780733342448/the-wonder-of-little-things/">The Wonder of Little Things</a> (2022) will find it hard to think of Vince Copley in the past tense. Crafted from oral storytelling of around about 300 recollections, Copley’s voice in this first-person memoir brings you close, almost as if you are sitting at a table with him, drinking his fabled cups of tea. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503730/original/file-20230110-12-chvss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Vince with Lea McInerney, co-writer of his memoir.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABC Books</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>A humble man who met kings, queens and heroes</h2>
<p>Born on a government mission in 1936, Vince died at home on January 10 2022, aged 85, after the complete manuscript he had prepared with writer Lea McInerney was written and the publisher had despatched questions for final revision. His beloved wife Brenda had passed in 2020 and it was she who had lovingly “bullied” him into telling the story of his life, so their kids would know what he had done. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503731/original/file-20230110-21-xy6ds0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The book is dedicated to his children, Kara and Vincent. Many generations appear within its covers – the book itself now an important part of family storytelling and knowledge. Lea McInerney is recognised for her dedication to Copley’s voice and vision; Copley said “I’m the storyteller, you’re the writer, and this is our book”. </p>
<p>There were many other pre-publication readers too, all of them thanked in the book’s acknowledgements. Reconstituting this life story was its own winding journey. Copley’s niece Kath’s documenting of that journey through photos and video could be considered as the basis for another form of media about the making of this memoir. </p>
<p>The inclusion of photographs and further reading, including a well-researched timeline of significant events in Australian and Indigenous history, enhances the book’s educational appeal.</p>
<p>But what might you find in The Wonder of Little Things? </p>
<p>A man who met the King of Jordan, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-queen-has-left-her-mark-around-the-world-but-not-all-see-it-as-something-to-be-celebrated-190343">Queen of England</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/muhammad-ali-rewrote-the-rule-book-for-athletes-as-celebrities-and-activists-60513">Muhammad Ali</a>; a man of humble origins who travelled the world and whose greatest joy seemed to be returning home and eventually knowing more of his own Country. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="man looking at engraved large rock" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503742/original/file-20230110-18-1hgvej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vince Copley at the engraved stone that acknowledges the Ngaduri people as the original custodians of the land, at Sevenhill, near Clare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lea McInerney</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Towards the end of the book, there is a moment where Copley reads his own Country, standing near an ancient Ngadjuri rock engraving, seeing other sites he’d visited in the distance. It’s told in understated fashion, so it could be easy to miss the significance of this among the other recollections quilted together in the book. </p>
<p>Connection to Country is widely understood to be a key <a href="https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/about+us/about+sa+health/health+in+all+policies/public+health+partner+authorities/the+department+of+environment+water+and+natural+resources+dewnr/connection+to+country">determinant</a> in health and wellbeing; it can also be difficult to maintain. Indeed, this phase in Copley’s life was initiated from a chance encounter with archaeologists!</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-kudnarto-the-kaurna-woman-who-made-south-australian-legal-history-185390">Hidden women of history: Kudnarto, the Kaurna woman who made South Australian legal history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Riding shotgun through Australian history</h2>
<p>Through the prism of Copley’s life story, we ride shotgun on some of the most important moments in Indigenous – and therefore Australian – history. We see the movement of Aboriginal people from missions into towns and cities, and the hardship (but also the opportunities) encountered. </p>
<p>Aboriginal people weren’t allowed to drink or be served in hotels then, but the women found ways to socialise. Vince’s mum married his stepfather in 1942; he recalls “Mum’s photo on the front page of a newspaper called The Truth and that not very nice things had been written about her”. </p>
<p>Some family members applied for and received exemption from the restrictive provisions of the Aborigines Act, which meant less control of their every movement, and was granted to Aboriginal people who <a href="https://aboriginalexemption.com.au/">were deemed to be</a> “worthy”. (If <a href="http://www.hass-sa.asn.au/files/1415/5442/9962/Timeline_of_legislation_affecting_aboriginal_people.pdf">not exempted</a>, Aboriginal people could not open a bank account, buy land or legally drink alcohol. However, exempted people were not supposed to have contact with non-exempt Aboriginal people any more.) Vince’s mum’s 1946 exemption certificate appears in the book. </p>
<p>Voluntarily living at <a href="https://www.stfrancishouse.com.au/">St Francis House</a> in Adelaide, a boys’ home where Aboriginal kids from remote areas could get an education in the city, was a striking example of the opportunity afforded by urban movement. Much later, in 2014 in the same city, Vince was presented with the Member of the Order of Australia by then-governor of South Australia, Hieu Van Le. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="schoolboys on their way to school" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503735/original/file-20230110-24-zqkpb5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">St Francis House boys in 1950, on their way to school. Left to right: Laurie Bray, Desi Price, Kenny Hampton, Richie Bray, Malcolm Cooper, Gordon Briscoe, Ron Tilmouth, Vince Copley, Gerry Hill and Wilf Huddleston.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">St Francis House</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a young man, Vince spent time living and working in country towns where the racism took the breath away. (For example, travelling for work to buy a grain elevator, Vince had to leave Wee Waa without the equipment because he could not get a white person to speak to him, let alone give him directions.) </p>
<p>And then there was Curramulka, on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, where Vince was recruited to play football, and initially worked as a shearer. He came and went over the years, boarding with a family, the Thomases (whose members included his future wife Brenda), on a farm just outside the town. He lived with the Thomases, “all up”, for 13 or 14 years.</p>
<p>“The Currie” holds a very special place in Vince’s heart: he became his own man here and he experienced a different social life from the one he’d been used to. In the Currie, Vince was invited to dinner at white folks’ homes. He could ask a woman to dance and not be rebuffed. He became coach and captain of the local AFL team, which he took to premierships in 1957, 1958, and 1959. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a football team, an Indigenous man smiling in front row, holding a ball" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503733/original/file-20230110-18-mrta08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vince Copley, aged 21 (pictured holding the ball, front-row centre) with the Curramulka A Grade Premiers AFL team, in his second year as captain-coach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Curramulka Community Club</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The footy-mad towns of country South Australia found themselves in a dilemma only some of them could overcome: racist stereotyping couldn’t hold itself together if an Aboriginal person could live up close and be seen as fully human. Copley tells us his life, and through it we get to see the fabric of Australian life forming. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-perkins-forced-australia-to-confront-its-racist-past-his-fight-for-justice-continues-today-139303">Charles Perkins forced Australia to confront its racist past. His fight for justice continues today</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Lifelong friendships</h2>
<p>Copley tells of a lifelong friendship with Charles Perkins, which began when they were both residents of the <a href="https://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1477">St Francis Home for Boys</a>. </p>
<p>There are other St Francis boys he also calls family: academic and activist <a href="https://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/briscoe-gordon-17784">Gordon Briscoe</a> (the first Indigenous person to be awarded a PhD from an Australian university), <a href="https://moriartyfoundation.org.au/people/john-moriarty/">John Moriarty</a> (co-owner with wife Ros Moriarty of Balarinji, the design studio that created the Wunala and Nalanji Dreamings painted on two Qantas jumbos and the first Aboriginal player selected to play soccer for Australia), Wilf Huddleton, Richie Bray, Malcolm Cooper, Kenny Hampton, Ron Tilmouth and more. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503737/original/file-20230110-22-chvss7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of many reunions of the St Francis boys, for Vince’s son VIncent’s baptism in 1976. From left to right: Desi Price, John Moriarty, Charles Perkins, Vince Copley, Mrs Smith, Father Smith (founder of St Francis Home for Boys), Les Nayda and Gordon Briscoe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.stfrancishouse.com.au">Courtesy of the P. McD. Smith MBE and St Francis House Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The friendship with Perkins, though, is what shapes much of Copley’s working life through the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Many times, he mentions Charlie would ask him to step in for him when he couldn’t make a meeting, a conference or a trip. Thus, Copley was there at the formation of key organisations and movements in the contemporary Aboriginal world. </p>
<p>These include: rights organisation the <a href="https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/federal_council_for_the_advancement_of_aborigines_and_torres_strait_islanders">Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Council_for_the_Advancement_of_Aborigines_and_Torres_Strait_Islanders">National Aboriginal and Islander Liberation Movement</a>, the first federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs, the <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2000081">Aboriginal Development Commission</a>, the <a href="http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/1970s/nacc74/naccdx.html">National Aboriginal Consultative Committee</a>, <a href="https://www.ahl.gov.au/">Aboriginal Hostels Limited</a>, the inaugural Barunga Festival and the <a href="https://deadlystory.com/page/culture/history/Barunga_Statement">Barunga Bark Petition</a>, the <a href="https://www.naidoc.org.au/">National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration</a> (NAIDOC), inaugural co-chair of Cricket Australia’s <a href="https://www.ntcricket.com.au/news/vale-vincent-copley/2022-01-17">National Indigenous Cricket Advisory Council</a>, inaugural chair of <a href="https://www.tandanya.com.au/">Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute</a>, and more.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503728/original/file-20230110-14-q0phr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Charles Perkins, fourth from left, on the Freedom Ride in 1965.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mitchell Library State Library of NSW</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It would be a mistake to think Copley’s influence was defined by Perkins: he too had magnetism, his own charisma and intelligence, his own vision for a better Australia and vision for better lives for his own people.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-who-owns-a-familys-story-why-its-time-to-lift-the-berndt-field-notes-embargo-94652">Friday essay: who owns a family's story? Why it's time to lift the Berndt field notes embargo</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Loss and a long life</h2>
<p>It’s hard to see how Vince Copley could have fitted any more into his life, but he does recall in The Wonder of Little Things some regret that he didn’t get to know more about his paternal grandfather Barney Waria. (Warrior in the book, matching Vince’s father, Frederick Warrior – the name <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-who-owns-a-familys-story-why-its-time-to-lift-the-berndt-field-notes-embargo-94652">was anglicised</a> at some stage). </p>
<p>His memoir deals with the contentious issue of <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-who-owns-a-familys-story-why-its-time-to-lift-the-berndt-field-notes-embargo-94652">the 30-year embargo</a> on the field notes of anthropologists Catherine and Ronald Berndt, which include information about and from Barney Warrior. As we keep moving into a future of democratised archives and changed power relationships in all aspects of life, one wonders if that embargo created unnecessary missed opportunity and heartache for Vince Copley. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503736/original/file-20230110-448-breuxu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vincent Copley with his son Vincent Copley junior. They are holding Ngadjuri book, with their grandfather and great-grandfather, Barney Waria, on the cover.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flinders University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Vince Copley knew loss. His mother died when he was 15 and before that, four other members of his immediate family had also died prematurely, including his beloved big brother, Colin. We meet Colin on the opening page: Vince is four and Colin six years older than him. It’s clear that Vince is in awe of his brother, a “really fast runner”, and by page three (set in “the 1940s”), Colin is dead of an untreated infection from tearing his knee on barbed wire. </p>
<p>“The closest hospital is ten miles away in Maitland, but that’s taboo for us – they don’t take Aboriginal people,” Copley writes. The next-closest hospital is 50 miles away, in Wallaroo, but the family can’t access a car and the quickest route to a hospital is by bus, to Adelaide. When they arrive, “the infection’s set in too far”.</p>
<p>Vince, too, could have died early (at the age of 15) of appendicitis, if not for the third hospital he visited, in Wallaroo, which admitted and treated him after hospitals in Ardrossan and Maitland refused to. Vince writes: “Later they told me that if my appendix had burst, I would have been history.” </p>
<p>From an early sporting and very physical working life, Copley became a bureaucrat in this new and emerging Australia – he was often in cars and planes, sitting in meetings, smoking, and eating out. He attributes his need for open-heart surgery at the age of 45 to that lifestyle, and this proves yet another turning point in the life of this incredibly interesting person, whose humility and passion were hallmarks of a long life, lived well. </p>
<p>While the St Francis boys who as men were central to Copley throughout his life, he also often refers to the strong women in his family – his sisters Josie and Winnie and his Aunty Glad (Aboriginal community leader <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/elphick-gladys-12460">Gladys Elphick</a>, whose achievements included founding the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia and the Aboriginal Medical Service). He is loving about his mother, whose life was cut so cruelly short. </p>
<p>We see a man of his time and we might wonder how he would have managed without his courageous and loyal wife Brenda at home, holding down the fort and raising their beautiful children. But Copley provides a sense of a man who knows the worth of women and who could never deny their strength, intelligence, and significance to the making of the world – to the making of his world. </p>
<p>There is so much story told – and waiting to be read and heard – from the pages of The Wonder of Little Things. It would be a shame for readers to miss out. </p>
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<p><em>Associate Professor Sandra Phillips is guest editing, with Associate Professor Corrinne Sullivan, a special issue of international, peer-reviewed open access journal, Genealogy. Dedicated to Indigenous Auto/Biographies, the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/genealogy/special_issues/0W8FNRL13Y">call for papers</a> is open until 30 April, 2023.</em></p>
<p><em>Correction: this article originally stated that Vince Copley took the Curramulka AFL team he coached and captained to premierships in 1957, 1958, and 1950, but it was in 1957, 1958 and 1959; this has now been amended.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Phillips receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Vince Copley lived a long, impressive life, helping to make a better world for Aboriginal people. Born on a mission in 1936, he died aged 85, just after finishing his memoir, on 10 January 2022.Sandra Phillips, Associate Professor of Indigenous Australian Studies, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1696322021-10-12T19:11:35Z2021-10-12T19:11:35ZThe net-zero bandwagon is gathering steam, and resistant MPs are about to be run over<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425849/original/file-20211012-26-18b837y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5246%2C3484&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison appears to be moving towards securing Coalition agreement for a net-zero emissions by 2050. It comes weeks out from the crucial COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, where Australia’s record on global climate action will be heavily scrutinised.</p>
<p>Horse-trading between the Liberals and Nationals is under way, and the government is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/industries-to-be-shielded-in-federal-bid-for-net-zero-20211012-p58zcj.html">reportedly</a> set to reveal its climate targets and technology roadmap early next week. </p>
<p>But first, Morrison must secure majority support from the National Party. A few vocal Nationals figures, including Matt Canavan, Keith Pitt and George Christensen, have sought to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/26/i-havent-even-begun-to-fight-matt-canavan-to-defy-nationals-party-room-if-majority-back-net-zero">block</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/25/australian-jobs-more-important-than-net-zero-nationals-minister-says">moderate</a> a net-zero commitment. </p>
<p>Some of their concerns are valid – regional Australia will shoulder a big burden in the transition to a low-emissions economy. But the tides of international and domestic affairs are turning. Most government MPs have accepted the inevitable, and the issue will not break the bonds of an enduring Coalition.</p>
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<h2>Net-zero and the Nationals</h2>
<p>The Nationals do have legitimate economic and political reasons for being concerned about a net-zero target. </p>
<p>First, a move away from coal and gas would lead to job losses in regional areas. And the federal government’s policy playbook to support rural and remote areas is extremely thin, relying heavily on spillover economic benefits from agricultural development and mining. </p>
<p>This means the Nationals, as the self-proclaimed regional party, have few economic levers to pull. Retaining mining investment is both politically and, at regional and local scales, economically <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6407349.pdf">important</a>. </p>
<p>Second, policy mechanisms such as a price on carbon or caps on greenhouse gas emissions could add to costs for people living in regions, and to agricultural industries such as beef production, where reducing emissions will <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-clock-is-ticking-on-net-zero-and-australias-farmers-must-not-get-a-free-pass-168474">not be</a> straightforward or cheap. </p>
<p>Third, the Nationals’ opposition is somewhat in line with the party’s ideology and electoral positioning. It has historically pitched itself as a defender of national economic interests and “traditional” industries such as farming and mining. </p>
<p>At the same time, the party has long opposed, on economic and social grounds, post-materialist influences such as deep Green environmentalism. </p>
<p>Finally, the Nationals, along with the Liberals, have successfully used climate change policies to wedge the Labor Party and paint it as part of a supposed Labor-Green axis. This tactic worked well in central Queensland in the last federal election.</p>
<p>So for some Nats, conceding to net-zero might be seen as an ideological capitulation and yet more evidence of their ineffective efforts to stand up for the bush. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nationals-signing-up-to-net-zero-should-be-a-no-brainer-instead-theyre-holding-australia-to-ransom-168845">The Nationals signing up to net-zero should be a no-brainer. Instead, they're holding Australia to ransom</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="three people stand in field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425851/original/file-20211012-21-1vbmpyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425851/original/file-20211012-21-1vbmpyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425851/original/file-20211012-21-1vbmpyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425851/original/file-20211012-21-1vbmpyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425851/original/file-20211012-21-1vbmpyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425851/original/file-20211012-21-1vbmpyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425851/original/file-20211012-21-1vbmpyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Nationals capitulation on net-zero may be seen as evidence they are not standing up for farmers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Our Cow/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>Net-zero gathers (renewable) steam</h2>
<p>The problem for the Nationals resistance movement, however, is that it’s becoming increasingly isolated. </p>
<p>Both the Biden administration in Washington and the United Kingdom government are <a href="https://theconversation.com/boris-johnson-overstates-morrisons-climate-ambition-as-australia-uk-trade-agreement-reached-162790">pressuring</a> Australia to commit to the 2050 net-zero target.</p>
<p>And several jurisdictions, such as the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-17/australian-exporters-pay-the-price-with-european-carbon-tax/100379998">European Union</a>, are considering or planning <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/15/what-does-the-eus-carbon-tariff-proposal-mean-for-australia">carbon tariffs</a> on imports from nations without strong climate policies.</p>
<p>In the context of recent shifts in the international policy landscape, railing against such tariffs looks anachronistic. </p>
<p>As National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) chief executive Tony Mahar <a href="https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/7348275/eu-carbon-tariff-avoids-ag-for-now-but-sector-cant-be-naive/">said</a> earlier this year, “as an industry dependent on exporting, Australian agriculture must be ready to adjust to a more carbon-conscious trading future”. </p>
<p>Domestically, state governments, including those with Coalition incumbents, have <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/climate-change/net-zero-plan">shifted</a> to net-zero-type targets. So too have important lobby groups, <a href="https://nff.org.au/media-release/nff-calls-for-net-carbon-zero-by-2050/">such as</a> the NFF and the <a href="https://www.bca.com.au/achieving_net_zero_with_more_jobs_and_stronger_regions">Business Council of Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, moderates in the federal Liberal Party are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/28/scott-morrison-meets-with-liberal-mps-worried-coalition-will-appease-nationals-on-net-zero.">gearing up</a> to argue for a net-zero plan and against large compensation for particular industries. </p>
<p>All this leaves the Nationals’ resistance movement rather short of influential allies.</p>
<p>Opponents could, of course, roll out the implied threat of breaking the Coalition. But moderate Nationals have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-28/climate-change-net-zero-2050-coalition-divide-nationals/100496264.">hosed down</a> suggestions a net-zero target is a make-or-break issue for the Coalition partners. And historically, Coalition breaks – especially in government – are extremely rare.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-reasons-why-the-morrison-government-needs-a-net-zero-target-not-a-flimsy-plan-169015">5 reasons why the Morrison government needs a net-zero target, not a flimsy plan</a>
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<img alt="two men ion masks in front of flags" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425854/original/file-20211012-15-1sbzugt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425854/original/file-20211012-15-1sbzugt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425854/original/file-20211012-15-1sbzugt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425854/original/file-20211012-15-1sbzugt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425854/original/file-20211012-15-1sbzugt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425854/original/file-20211012-15-1sbzugt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425854/original/file-20211012-15-1sbzugt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Prime Minister Scott Morrison is under pressure to adopt stronger climate policies, including from US President Joe Biden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Evan Vucci/AP</span></span>
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<h2>Sealing the deal</h2>
<p>Nonetheless, even Nationals in favour of a net-zero target want assurances for the regions and agricultural industries. </p>
<p>An obvious and relatively easy policy response is to ensure new <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-05-31/renewable-energy-zone-plan-targets-nsw-regional-businesses/12299652">renewable energy projects</a> in the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-10/qld-palaszczuk-andrew-forrest-hydrogen-gladstone/100527670">regions</a> deliver local economic benefits, such as through favourable purchasing and employment strategies or even dividend sharing.</p>
<p>Second is to ensure these and other projects continue to drive down electricity costs. This is especially important for energy-intensive agricultural production such as irrigated crop and pasture production. Where possible, regional landholders could receive income from local energy ventures as hosts of, or even partners in, projects. </p>
<p>Third, funding for land-based carbon storage could be expanded. </p>
<p>Australian landholders have made a huge contribution to national emissions offsets over decades, largely through vegetation management which draws carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in plants and soil. Such management has largely been the result of state government regulation preventing land clearing and farmers have historically received little direct benefit in return.</p>
<p>The federal government is now <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/climatechange/cfi">contributing funding</a> for landholders who create land-based carbon sinks under the <a href="http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/ERF">Emissions Reduction Fund</a>. But the resulting projects have caused local concerns and the carbon storage outcomes are <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-scheme-used-by-australian-farmers-reveals-the-dangers-of-trading-soil-carbon-to-tackle-climate-change-161358">uncertain</a>. </p>
<p>So expanding such schemes will not be easy. It must be done in a way that meets integrity standards, and without alienating local people. </p>
<p>The Morrison government is understandably averse to direct carbon pricing, given the toxic climate politics of the last decade. It’s instead focused on low-emissions <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/technology-investment-roadmap-first-low-emissions-technology-statement-2020">technological solutions</a>. </p>
<p>This might lead to new low-emisisons technologies for the regions, such as conversion to renewable energy and innovative transport systems. But there’s no timeline yet for when such technology will materialise.</p>
<p>The Nationals are right to demand detail in the climate policy deal. But the net-zero bandwagon cannot be stopped – at best, the Nationals must settle for perhaps quite modest compensation for their constituents.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-could-green-its-degraded-landscapes-for-just-6-of-what-we-spend-on-defence-168807">Australia could 'green' its degraded landscapes for just 6% of what we spend on defence</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Cockfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nationals’ concerns about the effects on regional Australia are legitimate, but greater forces in favour of a net-zero emissions target will likely push the policy over the line.Geoff Cockfield, Honorary Professor in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1584212021-04-07T05:07:47Z2021-04-07T05:07:47ZCrime is rife on farms, yet reporting remains stubbornly low. Here’s how new initiatives are making progress<p>Crime on farms can have devastating effects on farmers and their families —financial, psychological and social. Crime can also have <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/agricultural-outlook/agriculture-overview">national implications</a>, too, if it disrupts or damages farm production. </p>
<p>But too often, farm crime is considered “just a rural issue”, something out of sight and mind. </p>
<p>This is why the <a href="https://www.une.edu.au/about-une/faculty-of-humanities-arts-social-sciences-and-education/hass/humanities-arts-and-social-sciences-research/centre-for-rural-criminology">Centre for Rural Criminology</a> at the University of New England launched a crime survey of farmers last year in New South Wales. We wanted to gain a better understanding of the often hidden dimensions of crime in rural areas to inform decision-making by government, police, farmers and other organisations. </p>
<h2>High rates of farmer victimisation</h2>
<p>In our survey, the most jarring finding was just how prevalent crimes in rural areas is. Four in five farmers (80.8%) reported having been a victim of some type of farm crime. </p>
<p>Repeat victimisation is high, too: three in four farmers (76.8%) reported being a victim of crime on two or more occasions, and almost a quarter (23.3%) experienced crime a staggering seven times or more. </p>
<p>The most common type of crime reported by our survey respondents was trespassing on their property (49.9%). Illegal shooting and hunting (40.7%), theft of livestock (39.4%), and break and enter of farm properties (32.4%) were also high on the list. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393901/original/file-20210407-15-1459yqm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393901/original/file-20210407-15-1459yqm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393901/original/file-20210407-15-1459yqm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393901/original/file-20210407-15-1459yqm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393901/original/file-20210407-15-1459yqm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393901/original/file-20210407-15-1459yqm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393901/original/file-20210407-15-1459yqm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<h2>A reluctance by farmers to report crime</h2>
<p>Despite these significant levels of victimisation, farmers are often reluctant to report farm crime to police. Only two-thirds (66.7%) of victims reported stock theft to police, for example. And trespassing and illegal shooting and hunting were reported by farmers less than half the time.</p>
<p>Reluctance to report crimes is linked primarily to a lack of confidence in police interest and capacity to solve them if they are reported, as well as perceptions of barriers to investigating crimes in rural areas. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393903/original/file-20210407-19-1vf6snq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393903/original/file-20210407-19-1vf6snq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393903/original/file-20210407-19-1vf6snq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393903/original/file-20210407-19-1vf6snq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393903/original/file-20210407-19-1vf6snq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393903/original/file-20210407-19-1vf6snq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393903/original/file-20210407-19-1vf6snq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Other reasons for non-reporting include a belief that a crime is not serious enough to report or concerns about revenge in a small community (nearly 40%).</p>
<p>This “<a href="https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminology/the-dark-figure-of-crime.php">dark figure of crime</a>” — the term used to describe the number of committed crimes that are not reported or discovered — not only means the weight of the law won’t be applied to those who engage in criminality, but that policy-makers are unaware of the true extent of rural offending rates and patterns. </p>
<h2>The effects of farm crime</h2>
<p>Farm crime is costly. Let’s consider stock theft. NSW police figures indicate that between 2015 and 2020, an average of 1,800 cattle and 16,700 sheep were stolen each year across the state at a cost of nearly $4 million (annually) to farmers. </p>
<p>If we add the value of stud stock, loss of animal byproducts like wool or milk, and loss of future breeding potential, the annual financial impact on NSW primary producers could realistically be over $60 million. And remember, this does not consider the significant level of under-reporting crimes in rural areas.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crime-and-punishment-rural-people-are-more-punitive-than-city-dwellers-127156">Crime and punishment: Rural people are more punitive than city-dwellers</a>
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<p>These costs are also borne by farmers already facing serious challenges from droughts, flooding, bush fires, climate change and <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/209/4/drought-related-stress-among-farmers-findings-australian-rural-mental-health">mental health issues</a>. </p>
<p>Crime often cuts deeper than financial loss. In our survey, 70.3% of farmers classify crime in their local area as serious or very serious, and 64.3% are worried or very worried about crime in general. </p>
<p>This can have a significant impact on <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/51/1/75/344837">psychological well-being</a> and undermine social trust. And this, in turn, can hamper the ability of communities to work together and with police to combat crime.</p>
<h2>Rural policing in New South Wales</h2>
<p>Farmers in our survey expressed a strong desire for the police to engage with them directly and to perform a crime prevention role. An overwhelming majority (90%) specifically supported a team of police officers trained to deal specifically with rural crime. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-13/new-south-wales-police-to-roll-out-rural-crime-prevention/9254460">In 2017</a>, a team of full-time, dedicated investigators was established in the state called the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RuralCrimeNSWPF/">Rural Crime Prevention Team</a>. It is comprised of detectives and intelligence analysts located strategically across the state who work solely on crimes affecting the pastoral, agricultural and aquacultural industries. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-hunters-are-a-bigger-problem-on-farms-than-animal-activists-so-why-arent-we-talking-about-that-126513">Illegal hunters are a bigger problem on farms than animal activists – so why aren't we talking about that?</a>
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<p>Two-thirds of farmers we surveyed said they were aware of this team. It has made significant inroads in rural areas through <a href="https://www.theland.com.au/story/7154668/community-invited-to-rural-crime-workshops/">community engagment</a> and high-visibility, proactive <a href="https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2020/08/04/nsw-police-launch-operation-stock-check-to-prevent-farm-theft/">enforcement strategies</a>. </p>
<p>Our survey also found that those who have had direct contact with the RCPT are more satisfied with the police, have higher levels of confidence in the police, and are more likely to report crimes. Given these results, it is important that <a href="https://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/6357785/police-are-taking-stock-of-rural-crime-incidents-and-investigations/">resources continue to be allocated</a> to increase the team’s visibility and capacity to address rural crime. </p>
<h2>Preventing rural crime</h2>
<p>The nature and prevalence of farm crime is heavily shaped by the <a href="https://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=9781760020477">location and cultural geography of rural areas</a>. </p>
<p>For example, population density and physical distances between properties often means there is less risk of offenders getting caught. And the potential reward for their crimes is higher given how many valuable assets are on farms. </p>
<p>Police cannot simply “go it alone” in rural areas. Crime prevention is a shared responsibility for communities, with both farmers and police alike needing to adopt preventative practices. </p>
<p>Among the farmers we surveyed, 80% felt personal responsibility to prevent farm crime, with many indicating they employ specific measures to do this. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393904/original/file-20210407-13-1vx08po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393904/original/file-20210407-13-1vx08po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393904/original/file-20210407-13-1vx08po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393904/original/file-20210407-13-1vx08po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393904/original/file-20210407-13-1vx08po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393904/original/file-20210407-13-1vx08po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393904/original/file-20210407-13-1vx08po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Yet, farmers also pointed out the challenges to adopting more crime-prevention measures, including the financial cost, difficulty of implementation and a lack of knowledge around what works. These challenges often discourage them.</p>
<p>There is still much work to be done. In our survey, 41.8% of farmers were unaware they could report a crime to Crime Stoppers, while 45% did not know they could report to the Police Assistance Line.</p>
<p>This is why community-based crime prevention initiatives, such as the newly launched campaign in NSW, “<a href="https://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/7196262/une-research-leads-police-to-launch-campaign-on-regional-crime/">Draw the line on regional crime</a>”, are so important. </p>
<p>The launch and success of the RCPT is a strong start, as are collaborative community engagement campaigns with Crime Stoppers. If we can continue to increase farmers’ knowledge of rural crime prevention tactics like these, this can not only reduce concerns about crime, but also boost farmers’ engagement with police, their reporting of crimes and their own crime prevention efforts. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-farmers-want-more-climate-action-and-theyre-starting-in-their-own-huge-backyards-144792">Australia's farmers want more climate action – and they’re starting in their own (huge) backyards</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows that four in five farmers in NSW have been the victim of some type of crime, yet reporting of crimes to police remains stubbornly low.Kyle J.D. Mulrooney, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Co-director of the Centre for Rural Criminology, University of New EnglandAlistair Harkness, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Co-Director of the Centre for Rural Criminology, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1487242020-11-06T03:09:27Z2020-11-06T03:09:27ZBushfires, drought, COVID: why rural Australians’ mental health is taking a battering<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367365/original/file-20201104-17-8sbyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5000%2C3330&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Among the Bushfire Royal Commission’s 80 recommendations, <a href="https://naturaldisaster.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2020-11/Royal%20Commission%20into%20National%20Natural%20Disaster%20Arrangements%20-%20Report%20%20%5Baccessible%5D.pdf">released last week</a>, was a call to prioritise mental health support during and after natural disasters.</p>
<p>The Australian Medical Association this week <a href="https://ama.com.au/media/implement-bushfire-royal-commission-recommendations-now">called</a> on the federal government to implement the recommendations to lessen the health impacts of future disasters, noting the ongoing mental health fallout from the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.</p>
<p>The Royal Commission’s report comes as Australia heads into a bushfire season during a pandemic. Some farmers have this year lost their crops due to unseasonal rain and hail, as many rural communities anticipate further “big weather” events. Certain local economies, which are reliant on exports like wine and barley, are concerned about strained <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-19/china-eyes-australian-wine-export-in-latest-trade-move/12571672">trade relations</a> with China.</p>
<p>The combined effects of these adverse events is taking a toll on the health and well-being of rural people.</p>
<h2>A year of cumulative stress</h2>
<p>Australian Bureau of Statistics <a href="https://mindframemedia.imgix.net/assets/src/uploads/ABS-Causes-of-Death-data-2019_Australian-state-and-territories-summary.pdf">figures</a> released last month showed rural suicide rates are much higher than those in the big cities. </p>
<p>The causes of psychological stress for rural people are many and varied, depending on who you are and where you live. Many are facing environmental and weather events at increasing frequency and intensity. Some of these events happen rapidly, such as fire and floods, whereas others are long-lasting and uncertain, like drought.</p>
<p>The effects of these events include direct losses such as injury and death, as well as loss of livestock and buildings. Indirect losses include declines in businesses and employment, and the disruption of social fabric when friends or family leave town. </p>
<p>Recovery or adaptation can take many years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/distress-depression-and-drug-use-young-people-fear-for-their-future-after-the-bushfires-146320">Distress, depression and drug use: young people fear for their future after the bushfires</a>
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<p>These stresses of course come in addition to life’s normal challenges likes illness, bereavement and relationship breakdown.</p>
<p>For rural people, COVID has likely compounded these <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7205">cumulative stresses</a> and contributed to higher levels of trauma, mental ill-health and in some cases, suicidal behaviour.</p>
<h2>Band-aid policies</h2>
<p>In most rural communities, access to mental health services is relatively poor.</p>
<p>There’s <a href="https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/nrha-mental-health-factsheet-dec-2017.pdf">longstanding evidence</a> Medicare Benefits Scheme expenditure for mental health services is skewed towards metropolitan services. </p>
<p>State expenditure is focused on hospital services and care for those with high and complex needs. Consequently, many rural people with mild to moderate needs are <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/MentalHealthServices/Report">under-served</a>.</p>
<p>Traditionally, governments respond to crises reactively and by treating these events as short-term and disconnected. But this isn’t the experience of rural people.</p>
<p>Each adverse event is accompanied by (usually short-term) funding announcements by governments and agencies for new Headspace centres, expanded telephone helplines, websites, counsellors, or coordinators in the most affected areas. </p>
<p>Sometimes there’s overlap of effort across different government departments, federal and state jurisdictions or from different disaster responses, potentially wasting resources.</p>
<p>For example, in NSW, the longstanding drought has recently broken. But the social and economic recovery will take longer — possibly <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-1584.2011.01225.x">up to five years</a> with consistent rain as it did following the Millennium drought. </p>
<p>Counsellors were funded to support rural residents during the drought in 2018, with more counsellors funded in response to the bushfires. And now additional services are being offered due to COVID.</p>
<p>While the extra support is welcome, the fragmentation and temporary nature of the funding means rural people may not know what services are available, and accessing services becomes confusing. </p>
<p>What’s more, with short-term contracts, it may be the same staff moving between roles and agencies, therefore not actually adding new staff to support local rural communities. This funding instability makes it <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20932079/">difficult</a> to retain a stable rural mental health workforce.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/budget-funding-for-beyond-blue-and-headspace-is-welcome-but-it-may-not-help-those-who-need-it-most-147661">Budget funding for Beyond Blue and Headspace is welcome. But it may not help those who need it most</a>
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<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>In the first instance, policymakers need to ask people living in rural areas what they need and involve them in the process of developing appropriate and accessible services.</p>
<p>Second, we need to adopt a systemic approach that examines the full range of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197205">adverse events</a> that affect the mental health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. This means going beyond treating illness, to addressing environmental, economic, social and personal factors. </p>
<p>As part of this, we need people on the ground to support communities through preparedness activities such as educating people about mental health and how to access services, while stepping into disaster response and recovery as needed. Continuity and building on what already exists locally is key.</p>
<p>The Rural Fire Service is a good example of such a structure. It has a clear role in disaster response, but also works to prepare communities between disasters (for example, by conducting back-burning and educating about bushfire plans). </p>
<p>Localised support is important because preparedness and response look very different depending on where you live in rural Australia. For example, Lismore on the northern NSW coast experiences regular flooding, whereas Broken Hill in the state’s far west contends with more frequent drought, and fierce dust storms. </p>
<p>Third, to fully understand and plan for the diversity of rural communities, we need sophisticated data planning, collection and analysis <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796020000153">systems</a>. Beyond health data, we need to look at the social, economic, environmental factors which all contribute to mental health and the way people access care. </p>
<p>If we can do this well, local planning will become easier, more transparent and tailored to need. </p>
<p>Finally, rural communities need support to develop local leadership, so they’re empowered to lead <a href="https://www.ourhealthyclarence.org.au/">local responses</a>. This is unlikely to succeed with short-term band-aid solutions, but rather with long-term investment and strategic policy to build and sustain <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197214">capacity to cope with adversity</a>. </p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/collective-trauma-is-real-and-could-hamper-australian-communities-bushfire-recovery-131555">Collective trauma is real, and could hamper Australian communities' bushfire recovery</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Perkins receives infrastructure and program funding from NSW Health, NSW Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hazel Dalton receives infrastructure and program funding from NSW Health, NSW Government.</span></em></p>For rural people, these stresses are cumulative and contribute to higher levels of trauma, mental ill-health and in some cases, suicidal behaviour.David Perkins, Director, Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health and Professor of Rural Health Research, University of NewcastleHazel Dalton, Research Leader and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1481832020-10-19T04:08:13Z2020-10-19T04:08:13ZAs holidaymakers arrive, what does COVID-19 mean for rural health services?<p>At the start of the pandemic, health services in regional cities and small towns braced for a tsunami of cases. Many worried the patient transport system between hospitals would fail, and each hospital would be left to fend for itself. Small hospitals planned makeshift intensive care departments with improvised long-term ventilators. And health-care teams drilled themselves in how they would manage a COVID-positive patient who was deteriorating.</p>
<p>Fortunately, in Australia, these dire predictions were wrong (at least for now). But they could have been right. Rural areas are not immune to COVID-19. In the United States, the current <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-infection-rate-surpasses-metro-americas-all-time-high/2020/10/15/">rural infection rate</a> is higher than has ever been recorded in metropolitan areas. A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/rural-hospital-coronavirus-covid-19-louisiana-new-orleans">Louisiana hospital</a> described exactly the makeshift intensive care scenario we feared in Australia. Rural patients are more vulnerable too, as the community is older with more chronic health problems.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rural-america-is-more-vulnerable-to-covid-19-than-cities-are-and-its-starting-to-show-140532">Rural America is more vulnerable to COVID-19 than cities are, and it's starting to show</a>
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<p>In rural Australia, dealing with the pandemic has been more like whack-a-mole than an overwhelming wave. Outbreaks occurred around meatworks, local hospitals, and super-spreaders travelling from hotspots.</p>
<p>So, what have we learned so far about the impact of COVID-19 on rural health, and how can we maintain effective rural health care as tourism ramps up?</p>
<h2>We must work together</h2>
<p>A pandemic lays bare pre-existing structural problems. It exposes the lack of formal channels for rural clinicians to communicate across disciplines and across regions. It reveals the barriers between clinicians in the hospitals and bureaucrats in regional and city offices.</p>
<p>But it also provides an opportunity to connect these groups. During the pandemic, health services across different regions and states shared <a href="https://acem.org.au/getmedia/3ecc6790-6751-478a-9114-080040282476/Rural-Emergency-Toolkit-v1-0">local solutions</a>. Public health, hospital, community care and inter-hospital services created joint protocols. New communication channels must be maintained and ready for activation if cases increase. </p>
<p>Local knowledge remains important. Embedding local health workers in contact-tracing teams is a strength of <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-did-victoria-go-so-wrong-with-contact-tracing-and-have-they-fixed-it-147993">NSW’s pandemic defences</a>.</p>
<p>As the Victorian town of Shepparton discovered last week, local outbreaks cause an immediate and massive demand for <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/shepparton-goes-quiet-as-community-sweats-on-test-results-20201015-p565io.html">testing</a>. Using local media to keep rural communities up to date enhances the remarkable support already shown for quarantine measures.</p>
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<p>Teleconferencing between clinicians has expanded, as it has between clinicians and patients. It is best and most geographically equitable when it adds to face-to-face local care.</p>
<p>But it may also detract from enabling the best care when it <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-couldn-t-believe-it-woman-bleeds-to-death-in-nsw-hospital-with-no-doctors-on-site-20201011-p563z1.html">replaces</a> clinicians on the ground. One possible example is that of a woman who died in the emergency department of a regional NSW hospital in September. No doctors were present in person, having been replaced by telehealth treatment outside business hours.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-did-victoria-go-so-wrong-with-contact-tracing-and-have-they-fixed-it-147993">Where did Victoria go so wrong with contact tracing and have they fixed it?</a>
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<h2>Self-reliance and silent hypoxia are a bad combination</h2>
<p>Identifying patients before they become critically ill is crucial to rural acute care. This is true for COVID-19. The disease has a reasonably <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp2009575?query=featured_coronavirus">predictable path</a> of early fever, improvement, and then a sometimes <a href="https://theconversation.com/tested-positive-for-covid-19-heres-what-happens-next-and-why-day-5-is-crucial-143687">rapid deterioration in the second week</a>. For all but large regional centres, this means COVID-19 is managed in the community. Deteriorating patients need to be transferred early.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, COVID-19 has a horrible trick. It can cause extremely low levels of blood oxygen without a patient feeling unwell or breathless, or realising their oxygen levels are critically low. This is called <a href="https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/silent-hypoxia">silent hypoxia</a>.</p>
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<img alt="A person with a pulse oximeter on their finger, measuring their blood oxygen levels" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364142/original/file-20201019-13-sq3yn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364142/original/file-20201019-13-sq3yn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364142/original/file-20201019-13-sq3yn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364142/original/file-20201019-13-sq3yn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364142/original/file-20201019-13-sq3yn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364142/original/file-20201019-13-sq3yn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364142/original/file-20201019-13-sq3yn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many rural health services have used remote oxygen monitoring tools so clinicians can check in on patients recovering at home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>It’s a problem everywhere, but it may be <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2023540">worse in rural areas</a>. Patients often visit regional hospitals at a later stage of their illness due to self-reliance, distance to care, and a poorer understanding of the health system. By the time a rural COVID-19 patient thinks they are unwell enough to attend, they may already be close to dying.</p>
<p>Rural health services have had to adopt policies of regular local and remote checking-in for COVID-19 patients, especially in the second week. Telephone and internet connections are not always enough, so many hospitals have bought oxygen-monitoring tools for patients to use at home.</p>
<h2>Maintaining normal services is difficult</h2>
<p>COVID-19 need only infect a few staff at regional hospitals to make service delivery impossible. In <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-12/what-can-victoria-learn-tasmania-coronavirus-covid19-response/12445736">northwest Tasmania</a>, Australian Defence Force members had to replace infected and quarantining staff in mid-April.</p>
<p>Even without an outbreak, COVID makes it difficult to maintain normal operations. Health services relying on fly-in fly-out staff have struggled when staff can no longer travel freely across quarantine lines from the city or across state borders. Exemptions were given but the approval process was slow and many staff still had to do periods of self-quarantine, meaning many staff found it too difficult. Mechanisms to replace or increase staff may still be needed for regions with outbreaks.</p>
<p>Although rural hospitals have been spared the overwhelming numbers of COVID-19 seen in Melbourne hospitals, the extra precautions required to manage patients who could potentially have COVID-19 are draining. Maintaining services reliant on supplies at the end of the supply and logistics chain is slower and challenging. Like metropolitan staff, rural staff are feeling <a href="https://www.nswrdn.com.au/site/index.cfm?module=news&pagemode=indiv&page_id=1072042&pageReload=yes">fatigued</a> and requiring extra mental health support.</p>
<p>This is a problem as people move to rural areas for holidays and business. Even in normal years, health services in coastal and other tourist towns are busiest when the population swells in summer. With bookings of holiday accommodation <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-27/nsw-covid-restrictions-see-sydney-travellers-head-regional-coast/12701876">booming</a> in many areas, rural health services may be facing their busiest and most tiring part of the pandemic. If holidaymakers feel leaving the city means leaving behind the risk of infection and the need to socially distance, the results in some rural towns may be catastrophic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148183/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Baker receives funding from Alcoa of Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron Knott is affiliated with Australia New Zealand Intensive Care Society and is Deputy Chair of the Victorian Regional Committee of the College of Intensive Care Medicine (Australia and New Zealand).</span></em></p>Rural patients’ self-reliance means they often wait until it’s too late to visit hospital, while the closing of state borders has restricted the movement of some fly-in fly-out health workers.Timothy Baker, Associate Professor and Director, Centre for Rural Emergency Medicine, Deakin UniversityCameron Knott, Honorary Clinical Lecturer, Department of Critical Care & Rural Clinical School, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1280932019-12-05T18:35:07Z2019-12-05T18:35:07ZFriday essay: living with fire and facing our fears<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305118/original/file-20191204-70184-knqi2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The smouldering ruins of a child's bike lies amongst a property lost to bushfires in the Mid North Coast region of NSW last month.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren Pateman/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat. A northerly wind picks up clouds of dust and pollen, sending dirty billows across the paddocks. The long limbs of the gum trees groan overhead. Leaves and twigs litter the road. We stop to pull a branch off to the side.</p>
<p>Not even summer yet and already we are facing our first catastrophic fire rating of the season. Normally, I don’t even worry much about fires until after Xmas. In the southern states, it is January and February that are the most dangerous.</p>
<p>We live in the Adelaide Hills and never schedule holidays away from home in those months, even though it is hot and unpleasant. Now I’m worried we will have to cancel our pre-Christmas holiday plans. Winter will be the only time we can leave.</p>
<p>We cross paths with a friend walking her dog. We share mutual exclamations about the weather and the risk and she reminds me about the neighbourhood fire group meeting. I should go. I know, better than most people, just how important and lifesaving they can be. But I just don’t want to.</p>
<p>On the weekend, my husband had made us start the fire pump. It’s good to make sure it is all working, but I harbour a vague, irrational resentment at having to be taught how to do it every year. I know why. Mike has all that mechanical knowledge embedded in his brain like a primary instinct, but the information trickles out of mine like water through sand. I cannot rely on remembering what to do in an emergency.</p>
<p>I know my limitations. I’ve attached a laminated, labelled diagram to the pump with numbered instructions on it. Leave nothing to chance. My daughters are running through the pump this year too – in case they find themselves home alone. </p>
<p>Fuel on, throttle on, choke on. </p>
<p>I worry that the pull cord will be too hard, but my youngest yanks at it with practised determination and the pump starts first go. </p>
<p>Choke off, throttle up, water on.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305086/original/file-20191204-70122-1hrgimn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the fire pump.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sprinklers fire up a dull, thudding rhythm around the verandah, spraying a mist over the garden and the cat while Mike runs through the finer details of protecting the pump with a cover and sprinkler in the event of a fire.</p>
<p>I watch the garden soaking up the unexpected bounty and notice that some of the plants have gone a bit leggy. Their undergrowth is woody with age. I’ll have to cut that back, prune off the old growth. Some of them may have to go. Much as I love Australian plants and their waterwise habits, I can’t have many in the garden. Most of them are just too flammable.</p>
<p>Everything we do here, every decision we make, is shaped by fire risk: the garden, the house, our holidays, our movements, where we park the cars, our power and our water supply, even our telecommunications.</p>
<p>It is relentless. A friend of mine who went through Ash Wednesday said she was just tired, after 45 years, of the constant worry. She wanted to move somewhere safer. But she couldn’t bring herself to leave the bush.</p>
<p>Perhaps it would be easier not to know the risk, to live in ignorance.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305110/original/file-20191204-70133-1nkvveo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Though the worry is constant, many people can’t bring themselves to leave the bush.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Too busy’</h2>
<p>My local fire brigade had an open day a few weeks ago. The volunteers were busy for days, cleaning the shed, preparing the sausage sizzle. Lots of new people have moved into the area, mostly from the city, and chances are they don’t appreciate the risks of living in a bushfire-prone area. </p>
<p>The brigade put up signs, distributed flyers and knocked on doors with invitations. On the open day, I wander over and ask how many people have turned up.</p>
<p>“Oh about half a dozen,” says the captain brightly, before adding, “Well, maybe four actually. And only two of those are new.”</p>
<p>Someone asks about a family who has moved into a property down the road, a younger couple with kids and a stay-at-home dad. Would he be interested in joining the fire brigade?</p>
<p>“Said he was too busy. Maybe later when the kids are older.”</p>
<p>There are more and more people moving into the high risk urban fringes of our major cities, where houses mingle with flammable vegetation. Fewer and fewer people have the time or inclination to join their local volunteer fire brigade. </p>
<p>Many of them commute for work. They think fire-fighting is what happens when you ring 000. They don’t seem to realise that outside of the city, it is every community for itself. We have to fight our own fires.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grim-fire-season-looms-but-many-australians-remain-unprepared-122711">Grim fire season looms but many Australians remain unprepared</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305087/original/file-20191204-70144-4l4mik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Increasing population in the urban interface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’m watching the news filled with images of the fires in New South Wales. Traumatised householders stand in front of the twisted wreckage of their homes. Tumbled masses of brick and iron are all that remain of a house full of memories.</p>
<p>“We never expected….”</p>
<p>“I’ve never seen….”</p>
<p>“I never imagined….”</p>
<p>No matter how well prepared we are for fires, we always underestimate the scale of the loss – the photos, the family pets, the mementos and heirlooms, or simply the decades of work building a house, a property, a business. </p>
<p>Looking at the television screen, I can’t help but notice the blackened tree trunks next to the ruins of their homes. I worked for a while in community safety for the Country Fire Authority when we lived in Victoria, researching and writing <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270275555_Coping_with_fire_Psychological_preparedness_for_bushfires">reports</a>, and later <a href="https://www.ligatu.re/book/a-future-in-flames/">a book</a>, on how people respond to bushfires. </p>
<p>I’m well versed in the risk factors – proximity to native vegetation, fuel loads, clearance around houses, house construction and maintenance and most importantly of all, human behaviour.</p>
<h2>Leaving is not easy</h2>
<p>I used to live in a forest too, with mature eucalypts surrounding my house. We always knew this was a risk. We cleared the undergrowth and removed any “ladders” of vegetation that could allow ground fires to climb the trees. We removed new saplings growing close to the house. </p>
<p>We did as much as we could to make our 1970s home fire safe: installing sprinklers, sealing the roof, covering all the timber fascias in metal cladding. </p>
<p>In an average fire, we probably would have been fine. But when the Kinglake fires approached from the north on Black Saturday, I was no longer sure we would survive. A last-minute wind change swept the fire away from our home.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305117/original/file-20191204-70155-axkqjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Army personnel join Victoria Police in a search for bushfire victims in Kinglake area in 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jo Dilorenzo/Department of Defence</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like many people, in and around the impact zone, the fires uprooted us and disconnected us. There were so many deaths, so many people and houses gone. And yet so many are still living in the same risky buildings, often rebuilt in the same risky locations. As if we never learn.</p>
<p>We no longer felt so attached to our home. When the opportunity to leave arose, we took it. When we moved to South Australia, we still wanted to live in the bush, despite the fire risk. But it seemed impossible to find a home that had been built for bushfire safety. </p>
<p>A real estate agent showed me an elevated timber home that looked out to the south-west across vast hectares of native forest. A death trap if ever there was one.</p>
<p>“Yes,” agreed the agent. “I’ll just have to find a buyer who doesn’t mind about that.”</p>
<p>Our new house is built of stone, steel and iron, with double-glazed windows and a simple roofline surrounded by sprinklers and hard paving. Every crack and crevice is sealed. And it sits in the middle of a cleared paddock surrounded by a low-flammability garden. We look out over the bushland from a safer distance.</p>
<p>When my children were small, I packed them up and took them into town on every or total fire ban day. It was the prevailing advice from fire authorities. I cannot recall anyone else who did so – it is too hard, too disruptive and too inconvenient. And what do you do with the pets and horses and sheep? Let alone farms and businesses whose assets are practically uninsurable.</p>
<p>Besides, there are so many total fire ban days and they are getting more and more frequent. We’d be leaving for all of summer soon and not everyone has somewhere safer to go.</p>
<p>My former colleagues at the CFA confirmed that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037971120000014X">few people take this advice to leave on total fire ban days</a>. When the fire risk categories were upgraded to include “catastrophic”, people simply recalibrated their fire risk range to suit.</p>
<p>Now total fire ban days are everyday, ordinary events and people only talk about leaving if the risk is catastrophic or “code red”. And even then, few of them do. </p>
<p>That’s why fire agencies continue to put so much effort into teaching people how to stay and defend their homes – because that is where they are going to end up, no matter what they are told or what they say. After the shocking deaths on Black Saturday, urban politicians thundered in self-righteous fury.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you just tell people to leave?”</p>
<p>Like it is that easy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305109/original/file-20191204-70167-xl1s1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A severe burn near Kinglake.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other people’s fates</h2>
<p>I’m reminded of the <a href="https://ajem.infoservices.com.au/items/AJEM-13-03-17">neighbourhood fire safety programs</a>. These are groups of neighbours in fire risk areas who meet up regularly to undertake training in fire preparation. They run in several states, such as <a href="https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/community-fireguard">Community Fireguard</a> in Victoria, <a href="https://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/resources/text_only/community_fire_safe.jsp">Community Fire Safe</a> in SA and <a href="https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=133">Community Fire Units</a> in NSW.</p>
<p>Some of the groups in Victoria have continued for years, often meeting annually just before the fire season to run through their plans and discuss issues they might be having. They share advice on how to protect properties, what to do when things go wrong, whose house offers the safest refuge, who is leaving and who is staying. They establish phone trees to warn everyone of imminent dangers and to stay in touch.</p>
<p>I know <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337670275_A_review_of_the_role_of_Community_Fireguard_in_the_2009_Black_Saturday_bushfires">these programs work</a>. I surveyed many of the fireguard groups who survived Black Saturday and compared them to neighbours who weren’t in groups. </p>
<p>The active members of fireguard groups were more likely to defend their houses. Active members’ houses were also more likely to survive, even when they were not defended. A handful felt their training had not prepared them for the severity of the fires they faced. In truth, I don’t think anyone, not even the most experienced firefighter, expected the severity of those fires. But the vast majority were certain their training helped, and had saved their lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305088/original/file-20191204-70155-1sof6xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Burning off on private property.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In every group, there are people who do the work and those who don’t. There are always neighbours who are too busy for the training and just ask for the notes, which they never read. They want to be on the phone tree, even though they have not prepared their property and have not thought about what they will do in an emergency. These “inactive” members do not seem to benefit from training. Their houses have the same loss rates as people who aren’t in fireguard groups. </p>
<p>No matter how much other members of the group support them and encourage them, it does not help. I’ve tried to help before, running a fireguard group, but I don’t want to do it again. I don’t want to hold myself responsible for other people’s fates. It is enough to take responsibility for myself and my family.</p>
<p>I remember the fireguard trainers who blamed themselves, who were blamed by others, when neighbourhoods they had worked with suffered deaths and house losses. They often targeted the riskiest locations, areas that were virtually indefensible. Their information was not always accepted.</p>
<p>Trainers, some of whom had lost friends, neighbours and houses in the fires themselves, felt criticised for advice that had not been given, and also for advice that had not been taken. You cannot defend yourself against such angry grief, particularly when you are carrying so much of your own. You just have to listen. A court of law, which looks only for someone to blame, is no place to resolve the <a href="https://www.stockandland.com.au/story/3640945/bushfire-commission-lashes-government-failures/">complexities of bushfire tragedies</a>.</p>
<p>I had originally thought, when I wrote <a href="https://www.ligatu.re/book/a-future-in-flames/">my book about bushfires</a>, that it would be a simple analysis of the lessons we had learnt. After the Black Saturday fires, I had to write a completely different book. I realised it wasn’t about lessons learnt (even though there are many), it was about our failure to learn from history, our astonishing capacity to repeat the mistakes of the past.</p>
<h2>Harder and harder to protect people</h2>
<p>“We never expected….”</p>
<p>“I’ve never seen….”</p>
<p>“I never imagined….”</p>
<p>The same things are said after every fire. Blaming a lack of prescribed burning in distant parks when we know that preparation within 100 metres of our own homes is far more important. </p>
<p>Waiting for an “official” warning, as an evil-looking, yellow-black cloud streams overhead and embers land sizzling in the pool beside you.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305116/original/file-20191204-70101-12pjnl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bushfire north of Perth in 2018 sends smoke over the city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sophie Moore/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Politicians with slick, easy point-scoring ways that divert attention from their own policy obstruction.</p>
<p>The hopeful denial that bad things only happen to other people and won’t happen to us.</p>
<p>We’ve just experienced the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bureauofmeteorology/videos/1577380252402576/?t=16">hottest year on record, and the second driest year on record</a>. We have lost <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/why-are-our-rainforests-burning">rainforests that have not burnt</a> for millennia and may not recover. With climate change, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4785963/">fires have become more frequent</a> across all the Australian states, and with more extreme weather events, they are likely to become even <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-will-make-fire-storms-more-likely-in-southeastern-australia-127225">less predictable and more dangerous</a>.</p>
<p>There is no avoiding the fact that for the next few decades, we face an increasingly dangerous environment. We have more people living in more dangerous areas, in a worsening climate. Our volunteer firefighters are ageing, and local brigades struggle to entice new members to join. It’s getting harder and harder to protect people.</p>
<p>It would be nice if there was a silver bullet to protect us. If broad-scale <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08941920.2014.905894">prescribed burning in parks actually protected houses</a> and lives, or if we had enough fire trucks and water bombers to save us all.</p>
<p>It would be great if we had a cohesive suite of integrated bushfire policies across states, strong enough to survive from one generation to the next. They could include adequate building standards and <a href="https://www.resorgs.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/resource_challenges_for_housing.pdf">access to materials</a>, effective <a href="https://ajem.infoservices.com.au/items/AJEM-27-04-09">planning and development codes</a>, <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/63845/">integrated municipal, state and federal strategies</a> incorporating education, health and safety campaigns. We could create a culture of fire-awareness, rather than panicked responses to disasters followed by a long, inevitable slide into apathy and ennui.</p>
<p>Perhaps one day we will. But in the meantime, our best protection lies in our own hands, safeguarding our own property and making carefully considered plans in advance as to how to save our own lives. It is not an easy path, and one none of us wants to take. But in the end, we are the only ones who can do it.</p>
<p><em>To preserve anonymity the anecdote about a local fire brigade open day is based on multiple conversations in different brigades at different times. It represents a typical discussion had in brigades across the country and should not be taken to represent the views or behaviour of any brigades or individuals in particular.</em></p>
<p><em>Views expressed are the author’s own and do not reflect or represent those of the CFA or any other fire agency.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128093/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Clode previously received a State Library of Victoria fellowship while writing her book A Future in Flames. She was previously employed by the Country Fire Authority. </span></em></p>Living in a bushfire-prone area means every decision - from plants to parking spots to holidays - is shaped by fire risk. We live and die by the advice we are given, and the advice we ignore.Danielle Clode, Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1245792019-10-17T19:06:42Z2019-10-17T19:06:42ZShould I stay or should I go: how ‘city girls’ can learn to feel at home in the country<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296332/original/file-20191010-188823-17c3vnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=359%2C0%2C3137%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From city to country girl, but will she stay?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/The Conversation</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A move to the country is often presented in popular culture as an idyllic life, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10371656.2017.1285471" title="Myths and imaginaries: depictions of lifestyle migration in Country Style magazine">place where you can escape</a> the pressures of the city.</p>
<p>It’s in television shows such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/escape-from-the-city/">Escape from the City</a>, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/food/programs/river-cottage-australia">River Cottage Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/food/programs/gourmet-farmer">Gourmet Farmer</a>, in books such as <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/biography-autobiography/A-Story-of-Seven-Summers-Hilary-Burden-9781742376844">A Story of Seven Summers</a>, <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/whole-larder-love-9780670076918">Whole Larder Love</a> and <a href="https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/a-table-in-the-orchard-michelle-crawford/p/9780857983626">A Table in the Orchard</a>, and in magazines such as <a href="https://www.homestolove.com.au/country-style">Country Style</a> and <a href="https://www.australiancountry.com.au/">Australian Country</a>.</p>
<p>But what’s the reality for those who’ve made the move?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/imagining-your-own-seachange-how-media-inspire-our-great-escapes-105207">Imagining your own SeaChange – how media inspire our great escapes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Welcome to Stanthorpe</h2>
<p>As part of my <a href="https://eprints.usq.edu.au/34713/" title="The phenomenological and discursive practice of place in lifestyle migration: a case study of Stanthorpe, Queensland">research</a> into how people experience this change I spoke in-depth with 12 people who moved to the small rural town of Stanthorpe in Queensland, <a href="https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/SSC32680?opendocument">population 5,406 at the last count</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296614/original/file-20191011-188787-1inu206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Life in rural Stanthorpe is very different from city life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Melanie Marriott</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They came from international places as far away as Dublin and London, from Australian cities including Brisbane and Adelaide, as well as the Sunshine Coast.</p>
<p>While the majority moved because they wanted to be in the country, some arrived because visa requirements meant they had to work in a rural place. Others came for their partner, to be nearer family or, in one case, for a career opportunity for themselves.</p>
<p>These circumstances weren’t always entirely within their personal control.</p>
<p>Once they settled in, the majority found they were glad to be there. They enjoyed the level of trust people showed them, or the lack of traffic lights in town.</p>
<p>Others found the idyllic rural life wasn’t all it’s made out to be in media. For them, moving to the country meant limited leisure choices and life opportunities.</p>
<p>Here’s some of what they told me (not their real names).</p>
<h2>City girls</h2>
<p>Natalie moved because she’d been offered her dream job in Stanthorpe, but said she was “a city girl at heart”. </p>
<p>Being in a small country town was challenging for her. She found it really hard to meet people her age. She also mentioned how: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] when you’re in a small town, there’s no getting away from each other […] everybody knows what’s going on in your life.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She loved her new job and appreciated the way people helped each other out, but she was always seen as an outsider. This was partly due to her accent and the type of clothes she wore, which others commented on.</p>
<p>After several years in her job, she was offered an opportunity in Brisbane and took it, keen to get back to the city.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-home-new-clothes-the-old-ones-no-longer-fit-once-you-move-to-the-country-112137">New home, new clothes: the old ones no longer fit once you move to the country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Christine, a middle-aged woman who moved for her husband, said she was “not a country girl”. While her home was “a very pretty spot”, she often journeyed back to Brisbane and Sydney for things she couldn’t access locally.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You can’t just make an appointment with a gynaecologist or an ophthalmologist, there are none. The major services aren’t here […]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But she said she had a better social life now than she had previously because country people “make time […] it’s a lovely community”.</p>
<h2>Country girls</h2>
<p>Rae had mostly grown up in cities but enjoyed the outdoors as a child and had “always been a country girl at heart”.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We love it (Stanthorpe). It ticks all the boxes, big enough that you don’t know everyone, but small enough that you know most people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Asked if the media show country life as it really is, she said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Those magazines seem far too glitzy for what I know as truth […] it’s more muddy gumboots and bikes out the front of houses.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lucy said of the magazines “they’re selling the dream”. Even though she tried, she couldn’t quite replicate that dream in her own life.</p>
<p>The participants who accepted the disparity between media idyll and country reality seemed most content.</p>
<p>Kate said her country life was nothing like she envisaged it would be. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>But that’s good, because I can still enjoy reading books and watch McLeod’s Daughters and keep them there as that fantasy of what I’d like it to be in the country.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296621/original/file-20191011-188792-vg3ml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stanthorpe’s not as busy as a city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/59483343@N04/8046220909/">Flickr/Barbybo</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A place to call home, or not</h2>
<p>Even though these were all grown women, they used the word “girl” when they described themselves. </p>
<p>This city girl or country girl moniker was used to show how they viewed themselves. It became a shorthand descriptor they and others could use to let people know if they were living in the “wrong” place, without upsetting the rural people around them with criticisms of the rural space.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-moving-house-changes-you-109225">How moving house changes you</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While some remained in the country even though they weren’t thrilled about it, those who saw themselves as city girls either left or they maintained strong ties to the city in their everyday life, effectively straddling both worlds.</p>
<p>These conversations showed that if a person identified as “not from here”, that became an indicator they would remain feeling <a href="https://tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10371656.2019.1575558" title="Banking on BANJO: business, bias, and belonging in rural social imaginaries">like an outsider</a> and not adapt as easily as those who considered themselves as belonging.</p>
<p>Tania suggested the key to enjoying small town life was to get involved.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] the more involved you can get in things in the community, the quicker you’re going to settle into a country town.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She suggested local sports and bushwalking groups, classes, churches and other organisations such as the <a href="https://www.cwaa.org.au/">Country Women’s Association</a>, <a href="https://lionsclubs.org.au/">Lions</a>, <a href="https://zonta.org.au/">Zonta</a> and <a href="http://rotaryaustralia.org.au/">Rotary</a>. Others suggested volunteering with groups such as <a href="https://landcareaustralia.org.au/">Landcare</a> or other groups as a way to create belonging. </p>
<p>While this might not work for everyone who makes the move from city to country, it’s a good place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124579/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Wallis received funding for this project from the Australian Government Research Training Program. </span></em></p>Life in the country isn’t all it’s made out to be in popular media. That’s what one group of women found who made the move from city life.Rachael Wallis, Lecturer and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233472019-09-11T04:38:24Z2019-09-11T04:38:24ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Independent MP Helen Haines on using ‘soft power’<p>Helen Haines, MP for the Victorian regional seat Indi, made history at the election as the first federal independent to succeed another independent. </p>
<p>She was backed by grassroots campaigners, Voices for Indi, who had earlier helped her predecessor, Cathy McGowan, into parliament. But while McGowan towards the end of her time in the House of Representatives shared real legislative power after the Coalition fell into minority government, the same power does not lie with the lower house crossbench today.</p>
<p>Still, Haines believes she has what she calls “soft power” as she has focused on relationship building during the first few months into her term. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Building relationships is key to getting things done and it’s key to establishing an environment that is less an environment of conflict and less an environment of bringing people down. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>On current legislation, Haines is in favour of the government’s push to stop animal-rights activists from publishing farmers’ personal information.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Many people have contacted my office deeply concerned about this and I’m very supportive of bringing their views to the house on this. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But she’s a trenchant critic of the government proposal for trials to drug test people on Newstart and Youth Allowance. She says “the evidence is not there to support” the move. </p>
<p>In Indi, she points to mental health and aged care as frontline issues, which she will seek to work with the government on.</p>
<h2>New to podcasts?</h2>
<p>Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click <a href="http://pca.st/BVa3#t=3m34s">here</a> to listen to Politics with Michelle Grattan on Pocket Casts).</p>
<p>You can also hear it on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Politics with Michelle Grattan.</p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/politics-with-michelle-grattan/id703425900?mt=2"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL2F1L3BvZGNhc3RzL3BvbGl0aWNzLXdpdGgtbWljaGVsbGUtZ3JhdHRhbi5yc3M"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-conversation-4/politics-with-michelle-grattan"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233716/original/file-20180827-75981-pdp50i.png" alt="Stitcher" width="300" height="88"></a> <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Politics-with-Michelle-Grattan-p227852/"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233723/original/file-20180827-75984-f0y2gb.png" alt="Listen on TuneIn" width="318" height="125"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://radiopublic.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-WRElBZ"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-152" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233717/original/file-20180827-75990-86y5tg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" alt="Listen on RadioPublic" width="268" height="87"></a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5NkaSQoUERalaLBQAqUOcC"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237984/original/file-20180925-149976-1ks72uy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" width="268" height="82"></a> </p>
<h2>Additional audio</h2>
<p><a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score/Lee_Rosevere_-_The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score_-_10_A_List_of_Ways_to_Die">A List of Ways to Die</a>, Lee Rosevere, from Free Music Archive.</p>
<p><strong>Image:</strong></p>
<p>AAP/ Mick Tsikas</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123347/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Helen Haines, who does not have the real legislative power her predecessor, Cathy McGowan shared after the Coalition fell into minority government, says "building relationships is key to getting things done".Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1162772019-05-26T19:31:30Z2019-05-26T19:31:30ZThe forgotten people in Australia’s regional settlement policy are Pacific Islander residents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276242/original/file-20190523-187182-wwdab4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tongans gathered in the Sunraysia centre of Mildura to celebrate the Tongan team's victory over Lebanon in the Rugby League World Cup in November 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Established migrant communities in regional and rural areas are often ignored in favour of policies focused on attracting new intakes of skilled migrants. A striking example is the <a href="http://www.devpolicy.org/pacific-farmworkers-in-australia-20180206/">substantial population of Pacific Islanders in horticultural areas in Australia</a>. </p>
<p>They are largely unacknowledged or even invisible to policymakers in Canberra. Their working-age children now struggle to move beyond the seasonal, precarious horticultural work their parents do. Appropriate supports could help them increase their skills and make a valuable contribution to the rural economy.</p>
<p>Since the mid-1990s, the Australian government has tried to tackle problems on two fronts – congestion in urban areas, and population decline and associated labour shortages in rural areas – through diverse migration schemes. </p>
<p>In March this year the Morrison government launched a <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/plan-australias-future-population">plan for Australia’s future population</a>. It emphasised skilled migration as a means of “ensuring regional communities are given a much-needed boost”. The plan includes new regional visas for skilled workers and scholarships for domestic and international students to study in regional tertiary institutions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/settling-migrants-in-regional-areas-will-need-more-than-a-visa-to-succeed-114196">Settling migrants in regional areas will need more than a visa to succeed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A neglected community</h2>
<p>The rhetoric around settling people in regional areas tends to neglect the untapped potential of migrant populations that already live there. <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/social-inquiry/research/current-research-projects/pacific-islanders-in-regional-victoria-visitors-migrants-and-overstayers">Our research in the Sunraysia region</a> shows Pacific people have been largely trapped in seasonal farm work since they began moving there in the 1980s. </p>
<p>The government’s lack of acknowledgement of these established communities was evident in its planning and introduction of the <a href="https://www.jobs.gov.au/seasonal-worker-programme">Seasonal Worker Program</a>. Their potential to provide pastoral care for temporary workers from the Pacific islands was neglected. In both the <a href="https://docs.jobs.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/pswps_-_final_evaluation_report.pdf">2011 final evaluation of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme</a> and the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/%7E/media/02%20Parliamentary%20Business/24%20Committees/244%20Joint%20Committees/Migration/Seasonal%20Worker%20Program/Report/Full%20report.pdf?la=en">2016 report of the parliamentary inquiry into the Seasonal Worker Program</a> this is seen as the responsibility of approved employers. </p>
<p>However, such “official” pastoral care is insufficient. We have found settled communities are supporting workers in getting health care and often provide them with food and other supplies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pacific people are active members of churches in regional Victoria and provide pastoral care to members of their community.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the government has seen the settlers in negative terms, as potentially encouraging Pacific people employed through the Seasonal Worker Program to overstay their visas. This claim was made, for instance, in a 2016 call for expressions of interest in research for the <a href="https://www.cardno.com/projects/labour-mobility-assistance-program-lmap/">Labour Mobility Assistance Program</a>. </p>
<p>Rather than relying only on bringing in new waves of skilled migrants, <a href="https://theconversation.com/forcing-immigrants-to-work-in-regional-areas-will-not-boost-regional-economies-in-the-long-run-96852">most of whom stay for the required period then move to the cities</a>, why not focus on resolving structural problems and increasing the skills of those who already live there? This would mean tackling the barriers the local Pacific populations face, including their relative invisibility in regional communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forcing-immigrants-to-work-in-regional-areas-will-not-boost-regional-economies-in-the-long-run-96852">Forcing immigrants to work in regional areas will not boost regional economies in the long run</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In regional Australia, social services are directed mainly to new migrant and refugee arrivals, as well as Indigenous Australians. Some of our Pacific research participants said their communities’ needs remain largely unmet. A Tongan community leader we interviewed in Mildura raised two questions that prevent Pacific people from accessing support in Sunraysia: “Are you a refugee? Are you an Indigenous [person]?”</p>
<p>A high school principal echoed this point. She knew who to contact when she needed support for Koorie students or students from a “Muslim background”, but eligibility criteria often excluded Pacific youth from these services. </p>
<p>Many Pacific young people in Sunraysia express a strong desire to remain in their home towns, yet feel they face significant barriers to entering the workforce. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pacific youth in Sunraysia who attended our workshop in 2017 brainstormed the advantages and disadvantages of living in regional and urban areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their teachers confirm that Pacific youth are less likely to be considered for apprenticeships. They need targeted programs to ensure they get skills training that will broaden their employment opportunities.</p>
<p>Yet their <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-14/an-pacific-islanders-missing-out-on-tertiary-education2c-study/5453382">rates of participation in TAFE and university are low</a>. This is partly due to their lack of knowledge about their options. </p>
<p>In a workshop with teachers they also told us some Pacific students come to high school with insufficient literacy and numeracy skills. Early support could have overcome this problem.</p>
<h2>The problems are structural</h2>
<p>Much of the debate about employment relies on the idea of individual empowerment, which assumes academic achievement leads to skilled work. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-unemployment-local-communities-essential-for-helping-young-people-find-work-56673">David Farrugia argues</a> that youth unemployment rates will not decline without overcoming structural problems in regional Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-unemployment-local-communities-essential-for-helping-young-people-find-work-56673">Youth unemployment: local communities essential for helping young people find work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>An example of these problems in Sunraysia is that some local industries that give workers stable hourly rates <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/02/pacific-workers-not-backpackers-should-do-australias-regional-work-world-bank">prefer to employ working holidaymakers or backpackers</a>. This leads migrants and second-generation youth to work in more precarious piece-rate farm jobs. The local advocacy body for employing settled workers told us the preference for working holidaymakers is linked to their connections with other industries such as accommodation providers that benefit from this transient population.</p>
<p>Despite being born and raised locally, and in many cases being Australian citizens, Pacific youth experience significant discrimination and marginalisation. Like their parents’ generation they are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/pacific-islanders-in-rural-australia-struggling-to/8693102">stigmatised as “fruit pickers”</a>. </p>
<p>Many of them come to see farm work as the only option if they stay in the area. And even that is becoming increasingly precarious because they have to compete with temporary workers, such as those in the Seasonal Worker Program, working holidaymakers and irregular migrants.</p>
<p>Enabling the full participation of Pacific youth in more stable and skilled employment would contribute to the regional economy and improve social cohesion. But the policy focus is still on how to bring in new migrants. Population planning needs to have a long-term perspective and for regional areas a focus on the needs of the well-established migrant populations is crucial.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Dean Wickham, executive officer of <a href="http://www.smeccinc.org">Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council</a>, contributed to our research project and writing this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Lee receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Linkage Project) and La Trobe University Research Focus Area (Transforming Human Societies). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Makiko Nishitani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A greater focus on the well-established migrant populations and second-generation youth is crucial when planning for the social and economic well-being of rural and regional areas.Makiko Nishitani, Lecturer, La Trobe UniversityHelen Lee, Professor of Anthropology, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1109712019-02-27T19:15:23Z2019-02-27T19:15:23ZPeople and issues outside our big cities are diverse, but these priorities stand out<p><em>This is part of a major series called Advancing Australia, in which leading academics examine key issues facing Australia in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election and beyond. Read the other pieces in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/advancing-australia-66135">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Rural and regional Australia is a big place – too big to be contained in one rural policy or represented by a single political party. </p>
<p>Several features of contemporary rural and regional Australia stand out, though, as deserving of serious policy attention.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/report-recommends-big-ideas-for-regional-australia-beyond-decentralisation-99136">Report recommends big ideas for regional Australia – beyond decentralisation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The Indigenous estate</h2>
<p>Indigenous peoples are among rural and regional Australia’s largest landholders. <a href="http://www.nntt.gov.au/Maps/Determinations_map.pdf">Native title rights are recognised</a> on more than 37% of the Australian landmass. Exclusive possession native title applies to around 13%. Both these numbers will grow. </p>
<p>The cultural and social significance of the Indigenous estate is immense. So too is its economic significance. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander enterprises are active in agriculture, mining, infrastructure development, land and water management, and protected area management. </p>
<p>Governments have taken some positive steps to assist Indigenous enterprise. Changing procurement policy to encourage local suppliers is an excellent example. This must be seen in the context, however, of the missteps of the <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/indigenous-advancement-strategy">Indigenous Advancement Strategy</a> and failure to engage with the <a href="https://www.1voiceuluru.org/what-happened-next/">Uluru Statement from the Heart</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/building-in-ways-that-meet-the-needs-of-australias-remote-regions-106071">Building in ways that meet the needs of Australia’s remote regions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aspirations for sovereignty and “closing the gap” on health, safety, education and employment are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, finance, insurance and business models that are relevant to the collective and enduring nature of native title rights will go a long way towards realising the economic potential of the Indigenous estate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258446/original/file-20190212-174857-qdk0nc.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Native Title determinations as at December 31 2018. Native Title exists in green areas (darker green denotes exclusive title) and does not exist in brown areas (lighter brown denotes title extinguished).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nntt.gov.au/Maps/Determinations_map.pdf">National Native Title Tribunal</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-indigenous-community-deserves-a-voice-in-the-constitution-will-the-nation-finally-listen-107710">The Indigenous community deserves a voice in the constitution. Will the nation finally listen?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>New labour markets</h2>
<p>Agriculture, mining and other resources industries contribute mightily to Australia’s GDP. Yet their contribution to employment is comparatively small. </p>
<p>In 2016, agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 215,601 <a href="https://profile.id.com.au/australia/industries?EndYear=2006&DataType=UR&WebID=245">jobs in regional Australia</a>. Mining provided 102,639 jobs. By contrast, health care and social assistance provided 445,087 jobs, retail 341,190, construction 292,279, education and training 291,902 and accommodation and food services 253,501. </p>
<p>Health care and social assistance and education and training contributed more new regional jobs over the last decade than any other industry. </p>
<p>This is not about commodity price cycles and their short-term impact on labour demand. It is about the relentless substitution of labour with technology as business owners strive to lift productivity and lower costs. Advances in automation and telecommunications will accelerate this trend.</p>
<p>The policy imperative is not to ignore resource industries or the workers who depend on them, but to face up to structural change in the labour market. </p>
<p>It is not unreasonable for regions hit by job losses following mine or plant closures to look for new projects to fill the void. But it is important to recognise that fewer jobs will be on offer in the resources industries. And these jobs will require higher levels of skills and training.</p>
<p>Maintaining high employment across non-metropolitan regions will depend, ultimately, on continued growth in other industries. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-best-way-to-boost-the-economy-is-to-improve-the-lives-of-deprived-students-105522">The best way to boost the economy is to improve the lives of deprived students</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Climate action</h2>
<p>In the land of drought and flooding rain, climate variability is a given. </p>
<p>Managing for that variability is something we need to do better, even before taking climate change into account. The South Australian <a href="https://www.mdbrc.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/murray-darling-basin-royal-commission-report.pdf?v=1548898371">Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission into water use</a> shows that political commitment to cross-border cooperation and the maintenance of environmental flows is fragile.</p>
<p>What evidence we do have on rural and regional Australians’ beliefs about climate change suggests uncertainty and lack of trust in government are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2012.686650">more prevalent than outright denial</a>. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963662512449948">precautionary approach</a> to climate is favoured over business as usual.</p>
<p>Why a precautionary approach? Because <a href="https://acola.org.au/wp/PDF/SAF07/social%20and%20political%20context.pdf">failure to act on climate presents a number of risks</a>. These include: </p>
<ul>
<li>reduced market access for regions and industry sectors not seen to be reducing emissions</li>
<li>failure to develop cost-effective and industry-specific technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions</li>
<li>lost opportunities to develop markets in carbon sequestration</li>
<li>escalating economic and social impacts on rural and regional communities as climate variability increases.</li>
</ul>
<p>Importantly, only the last of these risks is actually contingent on climate change.</p>
<h2>Transition planning</h2>
<p>The sustainability challenges facing rural and regional Australia are not solely environmental. </p>
<p>In the 21st century, industries require stable, high-speed telecommunications infrastructure. That’s no less true of agriculture and mining than it is of tech start-ups and e-retailers. Unfortunately, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-australias-digital-divide-fast-for-the-city-slow-in-the-country-ever-be-bridged-60635">digital divide</a> between urban and rural Australia is a significant constraint on innovation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-australias-digital-divide-fast-for-the-city-slow-in-the-country-ever-be-bridged-60635">Will Australia's digital divide – fast for the city, slow in the country – ever be bridged?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The industries of the 21st century also require stable and responsive institutional and governance infrastructure.</p>
<p>The rural politics we see reported in the media looks every bit as polarised and resistant to change as anywhere. Yet Australia’s best rural policies have always been the result of collaborative approaches to planning and innovation. </p>
<p>Landcare and regional natural resource management programs stand out for the positive relationships they have built across the agriculture, conservation, industry and Indigenous sectors.</p>
<p>While federal and state infrastructure funding is critical for the regions, so too is support for integrated and collaborative planning. <a href="https://www.cleangrowthchoices.org/">Place-based approaches</a> are not a panacea but it is always in specific places, and specific communities, that business, services, natural resource management, energy, transport and telecommunications infrastructure, and so on, come together.</p>
<h2>Electoral diversity</h2>
<p>Social conservatism, support for traditional rural industries and scepticism about climate change are all highly visible in rural politics today. </p>
<p>I have outlined some of the risks arising from climate scepticism, but contemporary social conservatism carries political risks too.</p>
<p>Most obvious is the alienation of voters who do not share these views. They include:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.farmersforclimateaction.org.au/">farmers</a> who want meaningful action on climate</li>
<li>lifestyle migrants with no historical loyalty to the National Party</li>
<li>young people with more socially progressive attitudes. </li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-new-seachangers-now-its-younger-australians-moving-out-of-the-big-cities-103762">Meet the new seachangers: now it's younger Australians moving out of the big cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It is worth remembering that in the plebiscite on marriage equality <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1800.0%7E2017%7EMain%20Features%7EResponse%20map%7E17">most rural and regional electorates took the progressive option and voted yes</a>.</p>
<p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voters warrant extra attention. <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2012/october/1349327287/marcia-langton/comment-it-s-knockout">Indigenous voters have swung elections in the Northern Territory</a> with their preference for candidates who respect local leadership and priorities over traditional party allegiances and ideologies. Candidates for any seat with a large Indigenous population ignore these voters at their peril. As the <a href="https://aec.gov.au/Indigenous/">Australia Electoral Commission</a> works to lift the Indigenous vote, this influence will grow. </p>
<p>In sum, the issues that matter to rural and regional Australians are far more diverse than those discussed here. Many will disagree with how I have represented one or other issue. That, really, is the point.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110971/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Lockie receives funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments and from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Rural and regional Australia is a big and diverse place, but some broad common issues do emerge as policy priorities.Stewart Lockie, Director, The Cairns Institute, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104322019-02-20T04:15:06Z2019-02-20T04:15:06ZRegional Australia is calling the shots now more than ever<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259880/original/file-20190220-148506-jra1ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Regional Australia is no longer a desolate place when it comes to parliamentary representation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Governments change priorities all the time. Some argue governments will focus on developing regional areas at one point in time and then refocus on major cities at another.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781785365799/9781785365799.xml">research shows</a> that there are cycles in how much priority governments attach to regional issues. But these fluctuations are overshadowed by a larger, long-term trend towards greater involvement with regional communities.</p>
<p>Our findings show that regional Australia matters more today than it has at any other time since the 1940s.</p>
<h2>Cycles of regional commitment</h2>
<p>Inattention to particular constituencies can be costly. Victoria’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111140108727885">Kennett government lost office</a> in 1999, when regional communities such as Ballarat and Bendigo became disillusioned with what they saw as a Melbourne-centric government. </p>
<p>This was a time when governments in other states, and nationally, were paying more attention to regional voters, with the Howard Coalition government nervously watching One Nation as a growing political force. In Queensland, the pressure was more acute, with a few <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=990302736;res=IELAPA">regionally focused</a> conservative politicians claiming seats in parliament. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-big-ideas-for-regional-australia-were-given-short-shrift-111817">How big ideas for regional Australia were given short shrift</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Appointing a minister with regional responsibilities is one clear marker of intent in the government of the day. John Sharp, the Howard government’s first minister for transport and regional development, <a href="https://www.budget.gov.au/1996-97/ministerial_statements/regional.pdf">released a budget statement</a> with 19 major investments in regional areas. These included money for drought assistance, rural roads, and counselling and support services for young people and families.</p>
<p>Sharp said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Coalition government has not simply sat idly as regional Australia continued to suffer from neglect.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are now six ministers and one parliamentary secretary for regional development in Australian parliaments. Bridget McKenzie (federal), Michael McCormack (federal), Tim Whetstone (South Australia), Jaclyn Symes (Victoria), John Barilaro (New South Wales), Alannah MacTiernan (Western Australia) and Mark Shelton (Tasmania) are the most recent expression of a trend that started almost 30 years ago. </p>
<iframe title="Chart: Current ministers with regional portfolios" aria-describedby="" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fLyOf/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="570"></iframe>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>We examined all state and Australian government gazettes from 1939 to 2015 to find out how many “regional” ministers were in place over time. Our criteria were for the term “regional” to be in the title and for the representative to have responsibilities associated with improving the well-being of rural and remote communities. </p>
<p>We then used our data to <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781785365799/9781785365799.xml">develop an index</a>, in which we gave a score of 1 for each month in the year where an identifiable regional minister held office.</p>
<p>For each jurisdiction the maximum possible score in any year was 12. For Australia, with six states and one federal government, the maximum possible score was 84.</p>
<iframe title="Chart: Index of regional representation in Australia 1939-2015&nbsp;&nbsp;" aria-describedby="Score of 1 for each month in the year a regional minister holds office in each state and federal government. Maximum score for jurisdiction – 12; for Australia as a whole – 84." src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/mK5pe/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Our results, in the table above, came as a surprise. It is clear that political engagement with the regions has grown rapidly since the late 1980s. </p>
<p>Previous research <a href="https://www.anzrsai.org/assets/Uploads/PublicationChapter/283-Collits.pdf">has suggested</a> the 1940-1960s period was one of strong governmental commitment to the regions. This was reflected in announcements on the need to “decentralise” the population. </p>
<p>But our data suggest the notion of a “golden era” of regional policy and government support prior to the 1970s is misplaced.</p>
<p>Nation-wide policies in support of agriculture, mining or infrastructure development supported regional communities. But the well-being of these places was not the primary goal. </p>
<p>From 1972 to 1975, the Whitlam government was <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/16693074?selectedversion=NBD6504559">committed to addressing inequalities</a> associated with where people live. This brought fresh enthusiasm for regional portfolios in state governments, but that tide quickly waned as the political climate changed.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2016-how-well-are-the-major-parties-meeting-the-needs-of-rural-and-regional-australia-59063">Election 2016: how well are the major parties meeting the needs of rural and regional Australia?</a>
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<p>Australian governments did not begin to appoint regional ministers as a matter of course until the late 1980s. This was a period linked to the end of old-fashioned, class-based politics and the rise of our more complex political landscape. </p>
<p>The trend has continued since and the presence of the six regional ministers and one parliamentary secretary in the halls of political power means there has never been a better time for regions to lobby governments. </p>
<p>There are now more ministers than ever before ready, able and willing to receive delegations and advocate for country towns, rural industries and remote Australia.<br>
This means regional leaders have an opportunity to be heard in the run-up to the NSW and federal elections. The challenge is to determine the key messages and how they should be delivered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110432/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Beer receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Regional Australia Institute, the Regional Studies Association, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, the South Australian Government's Department of Industry and Skills and the Australian Government's Department of Jobs and Small Business, as well as the Department of Social Services.
Andrew is a member of the Board of the South Australian Housing Trust, and the Board of the Regional Studies Association. </span></em></p>Research shows there are now more ministers responsible for regional issues across Australian governments than ever before.Andrew Beer, Dean, Research and Innovation, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1055172018-10-23T09:32:18Z2018-10-23T09:32:18ZPolitics Podcast: Barnaby Joyce on facing the drought and rural women<p>Some in the Nationals would like Barnaby Joyce back in the leadership before the election. Joyce speaking to The Conversation repeats that if the leadership were offered, he would be up for it - though he insists he is not canvassing.</p>
<p>But his critics think he would have a “woman problem” - and Joyce acknowledges that to win support back from rural women he “would certainly have a lot of work to do”.</p>
<p>The former deputy prime minister is the government’s special drought envoy, and ahead of Friday’s Drought Summit he says there’s still a lot to be done. While there’s been some recent rain, even for those farmers who have received it “the real relief does not become evident until such time as the money turns up at the bank”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105517/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some in the Nationals would like Barnaby Joyce back in the leadership before the election. Joyce says if the leadership were offered, he would be up for it - though he insists he is not canvassing.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1011882018-08-12T20:14:15Z2018-08-12T20:14:15ZRefugees are integrating just fine in regional Australia<p>As the Australian population <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/08/07/07/11/australian-hits-25-million-mark-on-tuesday">surpassed the 25 million mark</a> last week, another immigration debate emerged over the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/citizenship-minister-says-we-need-to-manage-population-growth-in-sydney-and-melbourne/news-story/a6426b5ae89e8c70e1d61cc7e037eebc">burden</a> newcomers are placing on Melbourne and Sydney in terms of congestion and rising home prices. </p>
<p>With government data showing 87% of skilled migrants settled in either of the two cities in the past year, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Minister Alan Tudge made an urgent appeal to <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/minister-wants-to-keep-new-migrants-out-of-cities">redirect new arrivals to regional Australia</a> instead.</p>
<p>New research being released publicly on Tuesday suggests Tudge is spot-on in his argument that regional Australia can take more permanent immigrants, including refugees. But the research also shows he’s wrong on another contention – that newly arrived refugees don’t want to learn English and that integration is not likely due to migrants living in a “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-07/english-language-tests-need-to-be-tougher-government-warns/9522412">language and cultural bubble</a>”. </p>
<p>According to our survey of 155 newly arrived adult refugees and 59 children from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who settled in Queensland (in suburban Brisbane and in regional Logan and Toowoomba), those who settled in Toowoomba have had the easiest time integrating and feeling a part of their local communities. </p>
<h2>A warm welcome in the country</h2>
<p>Funded by the Australian Research Council, the findings are the first to emerge from a three-year study of settlement outcomes of recently arrived refugees in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231276/original/file-20180809-30455-bi7cbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231276/original/file-20180809-30455-bi7cbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231276/original/file-20180809-30455-bi7cbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231276/original/file-20180809-30455-bi7cbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231276/original/file-20180809-30455-bi7cbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231276/original/file-20180809-30455-bi7cbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231276/original/file-20180809-30455-bi7cbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While nearly all of the refugees surveyed in Brisbane and Logan were Christians – a consequence of the Turnbull government’s decision to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/opinion/australias-immoral-preference-for-christian-refugees.html">take mainly Christian refugees</a> from Syria and Iraq, Toowoomba has also settled a large number of <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/explainer/yazidi-people-who-are-they-and-why-are-they-run">Yazidi refugees</a> from Iraq, who follow their own religion, and a smaller number of Muslim refugees from Afghanistan.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231277/original/file-20180809-30443-12ecmvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231277/original/file-20180809-30443-12ecmvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231277/original/file-20180809-30443-12ecmvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231277/original/file-20180809-30443-12ecmvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231277/original/file-20180809-30443-12ecmvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231277/original/file-20180809-30443-12ecmvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231277/original/file-20180809-30443-12ecmvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One key issue related to immigrant and refugee settlement in regional and rural Australia relates to the warmth of the welcome. The stereotypes of the Australian bush being “redneck” would suggest new immigrants would find settlement difficult outside large metropolitan centres. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/16-027">earlier research project</a> on immigrants living in regional Australia a decade ago, however, dispelled this myth, with 80% of respondents reporting a warm welcome. </p>
<p>Our new research confirmed this finding, with 68% of the refugees surveyed in Queensland overall – and 81% in Toowoomba - reporting it was “very easy” or “easy” to make friends in Australia. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231278/original/file-20180809-30470-wxbchf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231278/original/file-20180809-30470-wxbchf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231278/original/file-20180809-30470-wxbchf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231278/original/file-20180809-30470-wxbchf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231278/original/file-20180809-30470-wxbchf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231278/original/file-20180809-30470-wxbchf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231278/original/file-20180809-30470-wxbchf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is also a better result than what researchers found in the larger, national survey of refugee resettlement in Australia, <a href="https://thesource.dss.gov.au/building-a-new-life-in-australia-findings-from-the-first-three-waves">“Building a New Life in Australia”</a>, which has been conducted since 2013. It’s referred to in the graph as “BNLA”.</p>
<p>Another indication of the “warmth of the welcome” in regional Australia is the finding that about half of the immigrants in Queensland – and 60% in Toowoomba - found it “very easy” or “easy” to talk to their Australian neighbours, a similar result to the BNLA. When we revisit these families in 2019 and 2020, we expect the numbers will even be higher. </p>
<p>The exception here were the immigrants who moved to Logan, who reported a lower level of ease talking with neighbours. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323301899_Refugee_settlers_in_South-East_Queensland_employment_aspirations_and_intergenerational_communication_about_future_occupational_pathways">Previous research</a> has found a complex array of factors creates a different experience for refugees in Logan, which was <a href="https://profile.id.com.au/logan/seifa-disadvantage">one of the most disadvantaged municipalities</a> in Australia in 2016.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231279/original/file-20180809-30467-gpwc9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231279/original/file-20180809-30467-gpwc9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231279/original/file-20180809-30467-gpwc9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231279/original/file-20180809-30467-gpwc9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231279/original/file-20180809-30467-gpwc9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231279/original/file-20180809-30467-gpwc9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231279/original/file-20180809-30467-gpwc9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A desire to learn English</h2>
<p>Being able to communicate with neighbours and other people is high on the list of critical needs of the immigrants we interviewed. </p>
<p>Since most of these refugees had arrived in the past 12 months, a key challenge was improving their English language skills. Most wanted more opportunities for conversational English and workplace English to assist in gaining employment. But for many, this was a Catch-22. The new arrivals needed to keep applying for jobs and attend English classes, but couldn’t do both at the same time. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231280/original/file-20180809-30461-99q5fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231280/original/file-20180809-30461-99q5fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231280/original/file-20180809-30461-99q5fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231280/original/file-20180809-30461-99q5fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231280/original/file-20180809-30461-99q5fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231280/original/file-20180809-30461-99q5fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231280/original/file-20180809-30461-99q5fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The adult refugees we surveyed were unanimously thankful to the Australian government and people for giving them and their families the opportunity for a new life. They desperately want to give back and contribute to their new country. But most had not yet found a job in Queensland. </p>
<p>This is of course a national problem, as the BNLA survey shows. But in our research, we found those in regional Toowoomba fared worse than those in Brisbane. Most of the Toowoomba residents expressed a desire to stay in the community, though, and would happily do so if they could find a job. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231282/original/file-20180809-30449-19bula.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231282/original/file-20180809-30449-19bula.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231282/original/file-20180809-30449-19bula.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231282/original/file-20180809-30449-19bula.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231282/original/file-20180809-30449-19bula.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231282/original/file-20180809-30449-19bula.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231282/original/file-20180809-30449-19bula.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Good place to raise children</h2>
<p>Despite these early difficulties learning English and finding employment, an overwhelming majority of new refugees in Queensland (86%) reported feeling safe in their neighbourhoods, slightly lower than the national BNLA figure (93%). Again, Toowoomba is the standout: 100% of refugees felt safe living there. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231283/original/file-20180809-30461-846wsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231283/original/file-20180809-30461-846wsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231283/original/file-20180809-30461-846wsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231283/original/file-20180809-30461-846wsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231283/original/file-20180809-30461-846wsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231283/original/file-20180809-30461-846wsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231283/original/file-20180809-30461-846wsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overwhelmingly, most respondents also felt the arduous journey from Syria and Iraq had been worth it – 85% of all Queensland respondents believe they’ve found a neighbourhood that’s a good place to bring up children. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231284/original/file-20180809-30443-1273oin.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231284/original/file-20180809-30443-1273oin.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231284/original/file-20180809-30443-1273oin.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231284/original/file-20180809-30443-1273oin.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231284/original/file-20180809-30443-1273oin.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231284/original/file-20180809-30443-1273oin.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231284/original/file-20180809-30443-1273oin.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their children also revealed a strong sense of belonging, despite early feelings of loss and isolation. This is again higher in Toowoomba and lower in Logan – a result partially explained by the proactive nature of the community towards refugees in Toowoomba.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231285/original/file-20180809-30473-168qjsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231285/original/file-20180809-30473-168qjsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231285/original/file-20180809-30473-168qjsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231285/original/file-20180809-30473-168qjsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231285/original/file-20180809-30473-168qjsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231285/original/file-20180809-30473-168qjsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231285/original/file-20180809-30473-168qjsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Research Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>This welcoming environment has been seen in many acts of kindness by teachers, community workers and church leaders. As one 14-year-old Afghan girl told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was homesick. I was like there’s nowhere to go. We didn’t know many people around, like our own Afghanis. … So, the good thing in my life that happened last year was Ross, the pastor, came to our home and introduced us to church. Though we are not Christians, we still go there. It’s a youth group. So there we found many friends. We got to know more about other Afghanis living in Toowoomba and other cultures. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>At a time when the integration of immigrant communities is being questioned, this study shows new arrivals to regional areas are actually doing well, and those in communities that welcome them may have the best support of all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101188/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jock Collins receives funding for four research grants from the Australian Research Council. The Linkage Project research grant which has funded this research project has support from Industry Partners: Settlement Services International ((SSI), AMES Australia, Multicultural Development Australia (MDA) and Access Community Services.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carol Reid receives funding from Australian Research Council for this project. The Linkage Project research grant which has funded this research project has support from Industry Partners: Settlement Services International ((SSI), AMES Australia, Multicultural Development Australia (MDA) and Access Community Services.</span></em></p>New research shows that refugees in regional Queensland have found it very easy to make friends and feel safe and comfortable raising children in their communities.Jock Collins, Professor of Social Economics, UTS Business School, University of Technology SydneyCarol Reid, Professor, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1007602018-08-09T02:08:52Z2018-08-09T02:08:52ZWhy young women say no to rural Australia<p>When it comes to migration trends, young people aged 15-24 are among the most itinerant in Australia. According to the 2016 <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/">census statistics</a>, slightly more than half (50.5%) of people in this age bracket changed their residence in the five-year period from 2011-2016. </p>
<p>The rates are slightly higher for young people living in rural communities compared to their urban counterparts. But when factoring in gender, one notices a big difference between young women and men, particularly in rural Australia – 55.3% of 15-24 year old women changed their residence during this time frame, compared to 48.4% of young men. </p>
<p>The same split was evident in the five-year period from 2006-2011 (55.6% of young rural women moved vs. 48.7% of young rural men).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/migration-helps-balance-our-ageing-population-we-dont-need-a-moratorium-100030">Migration helps balance our ageing population – we don't need a moratorium</a>
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<p>In the past, the exodus of young people out of rural areas has been interpreted as a sign of the long-term decline of rural and regional Australia. Indeed, <a href="https://www.springer.com/us/book/9789811311109">research reveals</a> that the out-migration of young people from six regions in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria has led to the accelerated ageing of these areas. </p>
<p>But the opposite can also be true. The out-migration of young people can also <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2008.00505.x">help spur</a> the regeneration of rural areas if they leave these communities to acquire the skills needed for regional development and come back. </p>
<p>But this assumes that young people return to rural Australia. And this is where we need a reframing on rural depopulation. The focus of our debate should not solely be on the reasons why young people leave rural communities. We need to also understand why they are not returning to these towns after acquiring suitable experience or education elsewhere. </p>
<p>The factors influencing this decision sometimes differ by gender. As our research finds, young women find it harder than young men to make such a move (or return) to these rural communities.</p>
<h2>Career concerns and compromises</h2>
<p>As part of a wider <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2cjsCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA25&ots=gwjEYfMCoz&sig=mm33MV7LsaXbVgE7cgJj7LDIGBg#v=onepage&q&f=false">project</a> examining rural youth out-migration in northern NSW, we interviewed a number of 18-to-24 year olds who had left the regional city of Armidale to live in Sydney. </p>
<p>Our research revealed gender to be an important factor when these young people contemplated whether they would return to Armidale, or how they would do it.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-rural-australia-is-facing-a-volunteer-crisis-95937">Why rural Australia is facing a volunteer crisis</a>
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<p>For some female respondents, the potential impact on their careers was seen as a significant barrier to their desire to move back or relocate to another rural area. For the young men we interviewed, the potential career challenges did not seem as insurmountable. </p>
<p>As one female interviewee explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am struggling with (the idea of returning to a rural location). I’ve thought about that because I really feel in a year’s time, I could try and say, ‘Yeah, I can move back to the country’. … But my job’s here … and I love my job and I don’t want to leave it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Gender also influenced the way respondents talked about returning to rural areas for “family” reasons. Male respondents were more unequivocal about the idea of return migration for family. They also expressed wanting to return to Armidale
because they felt a sense of “ownership” and “responsibility” for the town and its people. As a male interviewee explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I feel responsible and I want to make (Armidale) a better place. This, it’s just - … I don’t own anything here (in Sydney). I’m not responsible for it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was juxtaposed with the responses of young women, who used terms like “struggle” and “compromise” when talking about returning to rural areas. One young woman described how she felt pulled in many directions when it came to making a return move to Armidale:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…family’s the big thing, having kids, but also what your partner’s doing. I don’t know. It’s hard that one. … I feel like it always has to be a bit of a compromise, which is mine.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Challenge of selling rural Australia to women</h2>
<p>Australian rural communities have a lot to offer young people, including affordable housing, access to nature, easy commutes and a better work-life balance. </p>
<p>Both the male and female respondents in our research project were aware of these benefits. However, the young women were more sceptical of their ability to maintain a fulfilling career if they made the return.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-in-rural-workplaces-struggle-against-the-boys-club-that-leads-to-harassment-92507">Women in rural workplaces struggle against the 'boys club' that leads to harassment</a>
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<p>Rural development strategies face a considerable challenge in convincing young women that moving or returning to these communities will be beneficial both in terms of lifestyle and career opportunities. </p>
<p>Rural communities ignore this at their peril. By not engaging with and addressing the fears that young women have about their employment prospects, rural communities will continue to see an out-flow of this segment of the population to big cities and continued uncertainty over whether they’ll return.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100760/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rae Dufty-Jones receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the federal Department of Environment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Argent receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Canadian Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council. He is a member of Regional Development Australia-Northern Inland committee. </span></em></p>Research shows that young women are more ambivalent than young men when it comes to employment opportunities and other reasons to relocate to rural communities.Rae Dufty-Jones, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Western Sydney UniversityNeil Argent, Professor of Human Geography, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/959372018-05-14T20:16:47Z2018-05-14T20:16:47ZWhy rural Australia is facing a volunteer crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218721/original/file-20180514-178734-1ut1l1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In some rural Australian towns, there's nobody left to help the elderly or coach cricket teams.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">From Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The small town of Coorow is located in the wheat-belt region of Western Australia, about a three hours drive north of Perth. With a population of 400 people, the town funds many of its essential services and community facilities with money generated from a community-owned farm. Residents donate time, equipment and materials to grow crops on the 110-hectare farm. The money is then used to support the local primary school, St John Ambulance service, local medical centre, a small hotel and several charitable organisations. </p>
<p>In rural communities like this across Australia, volunteers are the only source of many essential services. Quite simply, without volunteers, there would be <a href="https://www.theflindersnews.com.au/story/5296091/long-ambulance-wait-due-to-lack-of-volunteers/">no ambulance service</a>, fire service or other critical emergency and <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/why-im-proud-to-be-a-pink-lady/news-story/31abd9d5b1f98949e8476f9c4602e052">support</a>.</p>
<p>Volunteers also play a vital role in the <a href="https://www.bordermail.com.au/story/5191525/helping-hands-volunteers-build-a-great-community/">social fabric of many rural communities</a>, essential to the running of social, educational, sporting, cultural and environmental groups and activities. </p>
<p>But this support may soon be a thing of the past. Australia’s rural communities are facing a looming volunteering crisis, driven in part by a rapidly ageing population, and residents moving away from rural communities. This is combined with <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=535148751141369;res=IELHSS">volunteer burnout</a> as the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-12-07/regional-job-shortage-harming-peoples-health-education/9228762">government defunds</a> essential services in these areas, leaving volunteers to pick up the slack. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-dont-more-people-volunteer-misconceptions-dont-help-69284">Why don't more people volunteer? Misconceptions don't help</a>
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<p>As the numbers of volunteers dwindle in these areas, the impact on rural communities could be devastating. In some towns, this might mean a reduction in the number of doctors, teachers, coaches and counsellors. Making the situation more urgent is the rapidly ageing population in rural Australia, which will only increase the demand for volunteer services even further. </p>
<p>With new volunteers difficult to recruit and government services lacking, it may prove nearly impossible to fill the void.</p>
<h2>Impact on local communities</h2>
<p>To examine how rural communities will be affected by the loss of so many volunteers, my colleagues and I analysed a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016716304776">survey of more than 10,000 people</a> in rural Western Australia, some of whom live more than eight hours by car from the nearest population centres.</p>
<p>Our study found that volunteering was a way of life in these communities. Of the non-retired population, two-thirds were involved in local volunteering of some sort - far higher than the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4159.0">national average of 31%</a>. </p>
<p>Those residents involved in local volunteering had typically lived in rural communities for most, if not all, of their lives. Many had children aged six to 12. A majority also worked on farms or owned small businesses. Most reported that volunteering greatly contributed to their overall happiness and a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-25/carole-bayley-volunteer-rfs-fire-fighter-womens-work/9080462">strong sense of connectivity</a> with their local communities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-have-all-the-volunteers-gone-47192">Where have all the volunteers gone?</a>
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<p>However, there were signs that the volunteer base in their communities was in trouble. The survey revealed more than 35% of those actively involved in volunteering were planning to move away at some point in the next 10 years. Most interestingly, more than half of volunteers said they were leaving because of the lack of essential services and the high costs associated with accessing these services in the nearest large towns or cities.</p>
<p>When volunteer numbers run low, community activities are usually the first to be cut. In Uralla, a small town near Armidale in New South Wales, the <a href="https://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/5130002/show-scrapped-following-volunteer-shortage/">Uralla District Show had to be cancelled </a> after 143 years. The event, which showcased skills like wood chopping and horse showjumping, had long relied on volunteers and was unable to find new recruits to help organise this year’s show. </p>
<p>For the town of Manjimup in Western Australia, with a population of 4,000, a volunteer shortage has resulted in some essential services being at risk. The ambulance service, for instance, is now reliant on volunteers from the nearby town
of Bridgetown. This involves Bridgetown volunteers driving some 40kms to Manjimup, then transferring patients to the regional hospital in Bunbury another 130kms away before driving 100kms back to their homes. </p>
<p>While the Bridgetown volunteers have been happy to lend a hand, the extra work still places immense pressure on their own community of 1,500 people.</p>
<h2>Embracing new forms of volunteering</h2>
<p>For remote towns like these, a new strategy is desperately needed to reduce dependence on volunteers and find new models for people to donate their time. </p>
<p>A first step would be for state governments to reinvest in local essential services such as hospitals, aged care facilities and secondary education. This would relieve the pressure on volunteers who now fill these needs in many places and allow them to invest their time and resources in supporting other community initiatives. </p>
<p>It would also enable rural communities to retain their younger and older residents, who oftentimes have to leave for schooling or aged care services elsewhere. As younger people in particular become more engaged in their communities through social and economic activities, the pool of available volunteers should also increase in the future. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-stop-volunteer-emergency-service-workers-quitting-73836">How do we stop volunteer emergency service workers quitting?</a>
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<p>Local governments could also explore bringing other types of volunteering to remote communities. Increasingly, many people are participating in low-commitment forms of volunteering such as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-07/spontaneous-volunteers-change-face-of-volunteering/8882290">“spontaneous volunteering”</a> - volunteering in an ad-hoc or <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=200802427;res=IELAPA">occasional manner</a>. However, many volunteering roles, particularly in essential services, require regular involvement on a week-in, week-out basis. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-016-2532-5">Virtual or online volunteering</a> could also be a potential solution to volunteer shortages. This has been particularly helpful for national- or <a href="https://volunteeringqld.org.au/policy/virtual-volunteering">state-based volunteer groups</a> that are able to provide services to people remotely. But again, the nature of rural volunteering and lack of <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-australias-digital-divide-fast-for-the-city-slow-in-the-country-ever-be-bridged-60635">internet connectivity</a> in rural areas could limit the effectiveness of online volunteers. </p>
<p>Most immediately, governments need to think creatively about how rural volunteering can be supported and move away from city-centric approaches. Policies should be developed by those most closely involved with volunteering - that is, rural residents themselves. Reducing the red tape around funding initiatives and allowing rural communities to explore more innovate funding schemes would also almost instantly reduce the workload and pressure on rural volunteer-based organisations. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors wish to acknowledge the Government of Western Australia’s Department for Primary Industries and Regional Development for providing access to the survey data and the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre for funding support for this research.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Davies receives funding from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Research Centre. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Holmes receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the International Olympic Committee and BankWest Curtin Economics Research Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonie Lockstone-Binney receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the International Olympic Committee and the BankWest Curtin Economics Research Centre.</span></em></p>Volunteers have long been the lifeblood of rural communities. But as their numbers shrink, remote towns are at a loss for how to replace them.Amanda Davies, Associate professor, Curtin UniversityKirsten Holmes, Professor, School of Marketing, Curtin UniversityLeonie Lockstone-Binney, Associate Dean (Research), William Angliss InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949792018-04-15T05:12:55Z2018-04-15T05:12:55ZHow to solve Australia’s ‘rural school challenge’: focus on research and communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214843/original/file-20180414-543-tx3r3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To enhance the opportunities for children, we need to ensure we have vibrant and valued rural communities with a strong social and economic future.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent release of the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/independent-review-regional-rural-and-remote-education">report of the independent review into rural, regional and remote education</a> provides a much-needed focus on the unique challenges and opportunities rural, regional and remote communities encounter. Ultimately, this is an issue of the place of these communities in contemporary Australian society.</p>
<p>The review was commissioned in March 2017, with the aim of improving education outcomes for rural students and their access to higher education. It sought to identify new and innovative approaches to achieve this.</p>
<p>The “rural school challenge” has existed since the advent of compulsory education. But this is the first major national report since the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/projects/rural-and-remote-education-inquiry">Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Inquiry into rural and remote education</a> 18 years ago. Sadly, progress towards a more equitable educational experience, outcomes from schooling and access to higher education has been slow in the intervening years.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/educational-disadvantage-is-a-huge-problem-in-australia-we-cant-just-carry-on-the-same-74530">Educational disadvantage is a huge problem in Australia – we can't just carry on the same</a>
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<p>We cannot waste the opportunity this report provides to refocus our attention on Australia’s rural communities and the students in them.</p>
<h2>What does the report say?</h2>
<p>The report makes 11 recommendations, and identifies four priorities:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>establishing a national focus for regional, rural and remote education, training and research to enhance access, outcomes and opportunities</p></li>
<li><p>focusing on research for successful learning and building young people’s futures – school leadership, teaching, curriculum and assessment</p></li>
<li><p>addressing the information communication and technology needs in regional, rural and remote locations, and</p></li>
<li><p>focusing on the transitions into and out of school.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>A national research programme</h2>
<p>The focus of research in two of these four priorities is important and timely. Here, the report highlights as much about what we don’t know as what we do know.</p>
<p>Australia has a vibrant and internationally renowned rural education research community. <a href="http://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/issue/archive">There have been many studies here in Australia</a>, and overseas, that engage with the issues and ideas put forward in the report. But <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/grants">research funding</a> has been declining in a tight budgetary environment. It has has also focused on issues of schooling only, including <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au">teacher quality</a>, <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au">NAPLAN</a> and <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum">national curriculum</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">We need to take a drastically different approach to attracting and retaining good teachers in rural communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Through this time, much <a href="https://www.spera.asn.au/events/conferences/">rural, regional and remote education research has been highlighting the problem</a> with the “metro-centric” one-size-fits-all approaches preferred in public policy over the last two decades. </p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/standardised-tests-are-culturally-biased-against-rural-students-86305">Standardised tests are culturally biased against rural students</a>
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<p>Nonetheless, the resulting projects have identified strategies that work: attracting rural students into teaching, specifically <a href="http://www.rrrtec.net.au">preparing teachers for rural schools</a>, embedding curriculum in local contexts, innovative information and communication technology approaches to enhance curriculum access and new resourcing models, to name a few.</p>
<p>A national research focus will facilitate a unique opportunity to scale up innovations that exist in the sector. It will also ensure our focus is broadened from school-centric research to broadly-based rural education and community research. </p>
<p>We need a ten year focus, with significant and guaranteed funding to develop and implement a longitudinal research agenda. That might seem like a long while, but considering that a child is at school on average 13 years puts it in perspective. When we note the report makes recommendations related to early childhood education through to post-secondary education and training, we’re looking at approximately 22 years of a persons life.</p>
<p>A sustained, rigorous and funded national research program will confirm Australia’s leading international position in rural education research. The challenges we face are not unique to us, they are shared, for instance, by Canada, the US and China.</p>
<p>To activate this, we need to build a small group of five to ten specially trained researchers across the country dedicated to rural, regional and remote research. This leading group of researchers would be at the forefront of identifying success and “scaling this up” - using these insights in more communities and with a greater coverage. They can then provide a rolling review of the success of the implementation of the recommendations in the report.</p>
<h2>A return to equity</h2>
<p>The report places equity back in the centre of the educational agenda, rather than equality and resource redistribution. Through the sustained focus on rural, regional and remote, the report highlights these communities have unique needs that go beyond the funding they receive – though that remains important – and the school gate.</p>
<p>In doing so, it highlights the limitations of the “one size fits all” approach to public policy that has dominated until now. While such approaches might work on a national scale when the vast majority of the population live in major cities, the population outside that space get hidden among the averages.</p>
<p>For instance, the report highlights the need to ensure the relevance of the Australian Curriculum and its implementation for rural, regional and remote students. It reminds us there is another dimension beyond the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools">Gonski 2.0 pre-occupation with the distribution of resources</a>. There is also what schools do with those resources, and how they tailor their work to meet the unique needs of their communities. This is where we need sustained and detailed research.</p>
<h2>The staffing challenge</h2>
<p>Meeting the unique needs of the community is only possible if there are appropriate teachers in the schools to do so. It’s not surprising, then, that the challenges of staffing are a major theme. <a href="http://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/112">Many approaches have been tried throughout Australia</a> to train, attract and retain appropriate teachers for rural, regional and remote communities. If we’re going to ensure the equitable distribution of skilled teachers in these schools, we need to try something radically different.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-a-radical-rethink-of-how-to-attract-more-teachers-to-rural-schools-83298">We need a radical rethink of how to attract more teachers to rural schools</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Beyond the school gate</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Challenges to rural education are largely influenced by factors outside the classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>While critically important, the challenges of rural education go beyond getting the right teachers into the right school. They are largely influenced by factors outside the school gate, such as the local economy, employment opportunities and <a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/ceraph/regional-wellbeing">community well-being</a>.</p>
<p>This is an area of urgent further research. The report recognises educational achievement exists within the community and the local social and economic issues. But an understanding of how these interrelate in rural, regional and remote contexts remains undeveloped. </p>
<p>To enhance the opportunities for children, we need to ensure we have vibrant and valued rural communities with a strong social and economic future. Such communities are also attractive places for professions to relocate to, have a career and raise a family.</p>
<h2>Rural innovations need to be ‘rural’</h2>
<p>The report makes plain that the needs of rural, regional and remote communities are unique. This is a rural research agenda, not education research with a rural twist. As such, it’s crucial the government’s response, and researchers, heed the theme of the report – each community is distinct, and needs to be considered for what it offers. Then, by recognising this uniqueness, we can explore what innovations are scalable across different communities, and how they need to be tweaked to be successful in each new context.</p>
<p>There is already success in rural, regional and remote schooling. We need the courage to identify this success, understand it, and facilitate collective networking to grow this success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Roberts receives funding from the Australian Government. He is Chief Editor of the 'Australian and International Journal of Rural Education'. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Hattie is the Chair of AITSL and receives research funding from the ARC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Piccoli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A government review of regional, rural and remote education tells us we need to recognise the uniqueness of and understand successes in these communities to improve outcomes for these students.Philip Roberts, Associate professor, University of CanberraAdrian Piccoli, Professor of Practice, School of Education, UNSW SydneyJohn Hattie, Professor, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/925072018-02-27T19:13:56Z2018-02-27T19:13:56ZWomen in rural workplaces struggle against the ‘boys club’ that leads to harassment<p>A <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ799042">culture of male dominance</a> in rural Australian workplaces is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539513000927">key explainer</a> for the high rate of sexual harassment. </p>
<p>Women in rural Australia experience workplace sexual harassment at alarming rates. Researchers Skype Saunders and Patricia Easteal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277539513000927">interviewed 84 female employees</a> from regional and remote areas of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales. They found that 73% of rural women had experienced sexual harassment at work. This is compared to 25% of women Australia-wide. </p>
<p>Only <a href="http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijrlp/article/view/3127">35.7% of those surveyed</a> said they would disclose incidents of sexual harassment. A culture of self-reliance, the effects of small town gossip, fewer employment opportunities, a workplace culture of victim blaming and geographic isolation from services (such as police and medical care) prohibited the reporting of sexual harassment.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-sexual-assault-victims-speak-out-their-institutions-often-betray-them-87050">When sexual assault victims speak out, their institutions often betray them</a>
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</p>
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<p>Gender roles in rural Australia follow traditional patterns and this culture sets rural women as <a href="https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0277539513000927/1-s2.0-S0277539513000927-main.pdf?_tid=spdf-f77baea4-ce9d-4324-b219-585c88d86794&acdnat=1519708367_caa59d3bb51f3a90bec21ceca2956636">outsiders in the workplace</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539513000927">Research</a> argues that women in regional workplaces, traditionally dominated by men, face a range of behaviours that signal to them they do not belong and are intruding on male spaces. Sexual harassment is the most powerful of these.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/change-is-possible-when-sexual-harassment-is-exposed-48992">Change is possible when sexual harassment is exposed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>41% of the <a href="http://data.wgea.gov.au/industries/283">agricultural workforce</a> are female but in mining, only <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/wgea-newsroom/gender-equality-spotlight-mining">16% of mining employees are women</a>. </p>
<p>In workplaces where there are few women, women are more visible and they are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539513000927">more likely to experience hostility</a>. Sexual harassment against women is more prevalent in male-dominated sectors such as mining and agriculture. </p>
<h2>The impact of sexual harassment in rural workplaces</h2>
<p>In rural towns where the line between private and public spheres is blurred, women’s reporting of sexual harassment and discrimination can <a href="http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijrlp/article/view/3127">endanger their position</a> in the social fabric of their communities.</p>
<p>For women seeking career progression in male-dominated sectors of rural Australia infiltrating the network of the “boys club” is seen as important. For example, one participant <a href="https://anzam2016.com/wp-content/uploads/ANZAM_Proceedings/ANZAM_Proceedings.pdf">in a 2016 study</a> stated that her career success depended on “drinking with the boys” at rural functions. She believed that opting out of events such as these would inhibit her career advancement.</p>
<p>Studies by <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/09649420210441923">Barbara Pini</a> and <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/09649429610122113">Beatrice Dunfield</a> found that women’s access to leadership positions in agribusiness and agriculture was stifled by lower self-esteem due to systemic gender discrimination. In addition to sexual harassment Pini argued that workplaces did not support the balancing of work and family. She found leaders did not perceive female employees to have adequate skills and abilities and where there was culture of bullying, it inhibited women’s access to leadership positions. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-culture-why-our-community-attitudes-to-sexual-violence-matter-31750">Rape culture: why our community attitudes to sexual violence matter</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Sexual harassment in the workplace is a real threat to regional communities. Women are significantly <a href="http://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=9781862876354">more likely to leave small towns</a> due to the limitations in employment opportunities. </p>
<p>As women leave rural areas the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539513000927">opportunity to disrupt masculine culture</a> and create greater levels of respect for women in the workplace declines.</p>
<p>Sexual harassment in rural areas is strongly associated with workplaces that have a strong masculine culture, where dominating and excluding women through threatening behaviour is normalised. </p>
<p>The key to combatting this is dismantling ideas of masculine and feminine work spaces. One example of this is that men will work in sectors that have traditionally required physical strength, such as mining, and that women will play support roles in “soft” skill areas. </p>
<p>If we do away with this culture it will be an important starting point for creating safe workplaces free of sexual harassment. </p>
<p>While the statistics on sexual harassment in rural Australia are shocking, gender roles in rural Australia are in a state of renegotiation and reconstruction. That can continue if employees of both genders are committed to change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucie Newsome does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A culture of male dominance in rural Australia is a key explainer for the high rate of sexual harassment in rural workplaces.Lucie Newsome, Lecturer, Business School, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/879972017-12-19T19:22:59Z2017-12-19T19:22:59ZTourists are happy when taken off the beaten track, and smaller cities and towns can tap into that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198084/original/file-20171207-31525-34dwwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Yes, it's a beautiful part of the world, but what sets Ballyhoura apart is the deliberate focus on a warm, local welcome.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephendotcarter/5611373774/in/photolist-9xRKVG-3CF4mc-eijciU-cpxLvC-ab4pyk-9onsMx-9xRL7Y-ab4BsZ-eidsvi-cpya51-9onsuF-eidso6-cpxMcf-UsjXJt-eidsui-9onsJv-ab42Ze-cpy8Ao-ab4x9r-Tniq85-7MnFzy-cpyeiQ-cpxMHj-9ontmF-9onsAi-9onsNi-9onsz4-9xNML6-ab4dV4-6iAnnm-7Ers45-ab4ytr-ab4q8c-ab4ssr-ab4f1R-5c8B8U-9oqukE-9ontsn-7yUTJr-cpy6F1-cpxJUu-cpxW7N-ab4zmP-cpycSG-7ErtfS-TnipWJ-cpxS81-cpy9F5-6iAiAq-ab4sWB">stephendotcarter/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Big cities and places with internationally renowned attractions have long been the most popular tourist destinations. Even today, Chinese tour companies in Australia, for instance, mostly <a href="https://epubs.scu.edu.au/tourism_pubs/2219/">focus on the biggest cities</a> – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane – and landmarks like Uluru. But modern tourism is starting to take a slightly different path, regional travel, which creates economic benefits for towns and also leaves tourists with a better impression of a country.</p>
<p>Unpublished research undertaken by one of us (Elizabeth Turenko) while working as a tour leader in Ukraine in 2013-2014 confirmed this. Feedback from guests travelling on a group tour to Europe showed 80% preferred to visit “well-known” large cities, mostly capitals, when it came to choosing a tour. </p>
<p>Most of the time, though, these tourists were disappointed because the cities did not live up to their expectations. But, the study revealed, 75% of tourists enjoyed travelling to smaller towns when they did decide to visit them as part of a tour.</p>
<h2>Big cities are losing their local flavour</h2>
<p>There is no doubt the major cities are attractive and are still perceived as the essence of a country for many tourists. Yet the question remains: are these cities actually showing the “real country”? At a time of globalisation and global cities, to what extent do the larger cities still give tourists “the taste” of local culture.</p>
<p>Rural Tourism Marketing Group CEO <a href="http://ruraltourismmarketing.com/">Joanna Steele</a> <a href="http://www.cfra.org/node/2504">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the past five years tourism has seen some big changes. Large numbers of travellers have lost interest in cookie-cutter restaurants, lodging and attractions. Instead, they want local food, local attractions and connection to the lifestyles of local people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The best places to experience that are often small local towns and villages. Here life hasn’t yet been adapted to tourist needs and the authenticity feels right.</p>
<p>Turenko also investigated the tourists’ preferences during a group bus tour in Europe. The main program involved a one-day visit to Amsterdam and a second day on which tourists could spend their free time in Amsterdam or go on a group trip to <a href="https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/plan-your-trip/day-trips/old-holland/smalltown-harbours/volendam">Volendam</a>, a small town 20km away. The 90% of the group who opted for the town visit were very satisfied with their decision.</p>
<p>So, was there anything special about Volendam? Not really.</p>
<p>Much like many small towns in the Netherlands, Volendam has limited tourist attractions, these being mostly its built heritage (wooden buildings) and cultural assets (a museum and a cheese factory). When surveyed, the visitors explained they enjoyed the glimpse into the local culture and the routine life of the locals.</p>
<p>The tourists appreciated going to local shops and eating at local restaurants far away from standardised brands and international franchises. They felt they could feel the “soul” of the country.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198072/original/file-20171207-31532-jx8b4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What does Volendam have that Amsterdam doesn’t? It probably comes down to everyday local character.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the time of this 2014 survey, cities and holidays at the coast were the <a href="https://www.nbtc.nl/web/file?uuid=7361722f-011d-4714-b98b-8ced3eee1bb2&owner=388ad020-d235-4624-86a4-d899f855a216&contentid=48712">main attractions for visitors to the Netherlands</a> (36% and 22%, respectively). But interest in the countryside and touring the Netherlands (12% and 10%, respectively) has been increasing.</p>
<h2>Finding a local tourism niche</h2>
<p>Let’s be frank: smaller towns and villages have not been dormant, and many have jumped at the opportunities offered by tourism. We all have heard about farm holidays, horse riding, wine tasting tours, nature guided walks and so on. </p>
<p>Building on this, innovative regional tourism practices have been recognised worldwide for displaying a breadth of approaches and end products. A good example in Ireland is <a href="http://visitballyhoura.com/">Ballyhoura</a>, “a world where the little pleasures of sharing everyday things with the locals in Ballyhoura – talking with them, walking with them and sharing a joke – is possibly the greatest attraction of them all!” </p>
<p>Despite a lack of outstanding tourism resources, the area became a successful tourism destination thanks to a very personalised marketing method. Visitors even received a welcoming letter. The focus on “<a href="http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/csi13476/$FILE/Rural-Tourism.pdf">promoting a genuine rural experience and warm welcome</a>” creates an incentive for more local start-up enterprises and for a co-operative, closing-the-loop process of quality control.</p>
<p>Longreach and Winton are Australian towns that have taken advantage of distinctive local histories and features such as old mines and fossil beds. Longreach has the <a href="http://outbackheritage.com.au/">Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame</a> and the <a href="https://qfom.com.au/">Qantas Founders Museum</a>, while Winton’s <a href="http://www.australianageofdinosaurs.com/">Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum</a> offers “products” of the natural environment such as dinosaur stamps and bones.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196454/original/file-20171127-2004-xmtv11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196454/original/file-20171127-2004-xmtv11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196454/original/file-20171127-2004-xmtv11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196454/original/file-20171127-2004-xmtv11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196454/original/file-20171127-2004-xmtv11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196454/original/file-20171127-2004-xmtv11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196454/original/file-20171127-2004-xmtv11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nowhere else has one: the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Shrimpton/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet all attempts have not been met with success. Many smaller towns are slowly disappearing in Australia. Main streets with closed shops and abandoned business are not uncommon.</p>
<p>The combination of lack of employment and population ageing and loss is a chicken-and-egg situation. The various levels of government are acutely aware of this, and tourism offers a possible way out of the dilemma facing these towns. Several recent initiatives have shown how tourism can contribute to the development of these areas when innovation, expertise and community participation are brought together. </p>
<p>Charleville in far west Queensland offers a great example of this, with the outback town working on making the most of its clear nighttime skies, far from the city lights. An extension to the <a href="http://www.cosmoscentre.com/">Cosmos Centre and Observatory</a>, <a href="https://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/index.php/regional-development/regional-economic-development/building-our-regions/remote-communities-infrastructure-fund/1385-charleville-cosmos-centre-planetarium-stage-1">funded by state and local governments</a>, has boosted visitor numbers in just one year. The extension displays fun and serious facts about planets and life in space, enhanced by interactive media. </p>
<p>For the town of fewer than 4,000 people, the growth in tourism is like a nice spring rain after a long dry season. It’s another reminder of why rural tourism can be “<a href="https://www.conversational.com/rural-tourism-the-perfect-small-town-business-idea/">the perfect small town business idea</a>”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karine Dupre is currently working on the Top Secret Precinct Master Plan for the Murweh Shire as a consultant. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Turenko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The big cities are still magnets for tourists, but often they find the smaller towns offer a more satisfying taste of local life. It’s why rural tourism can be ‘the perfect small town business idea’.Elizabeth Turenko, PhD Candidate, Griffith UniversityKarine Dupré, Associate Professor in Architecture, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/863052017-11-21T19:28:26Z2017-11-21T19:28:26ZStandardised tests are culturally biased against rural students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194099/original/file-20171110-13323-1f07lbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><hr>
<p><em>Since it was introduced in the 1800s, standardised testing in Australian schools has attracted controversy and divided opinion. In this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/standardised-testing-series-46310">series</a>, we examine its pros and cons, including appropriate uses for standardised tests and which students are disadvantaged by them.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>It is generally <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/government-warned-of-widening-gap-between-country-and-city-schools-20170921-gym9io.html">reported</a> that rural students are up to one and a half years behind their metropolitan peers in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (<a href="https://www.nap.edu.au/">NAPLAN</a>) and Programme for International Student Assessment (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">PISA</a>) tests. They are also less likely to complete year 12, and half as likely to go to university. </p>
<p>However, there are two key problems with how these determinations are arrived at: firstly, cultural bias in tests, and secondly the problem of averages. </p>
<h2>Cultural bias</h2>
<p>If you ask a teacher in a rural school about the gap in achievement in NAPLAN, they tend to roll their eyes and say something like: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>is it any surprise that our kids don’t do as well? <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-11/naplan-disadvantaging-rural-kids-say-teachers/7405766">A lot of the questions don’t have any relevance to their real lives</a>. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such questions include a literacy task asking a student to write a recount of a day at the beach - when they haven’t been to one – or a numeracy task using a train timetable - which they don’t use. </p>
<p>ACARA’s response would likely be that timetables are in the curriculum, <a href="https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/pop-quiz-could-you-pass-your-childs-naplan-test/3175642/">therefore it is right to develop a test using them</a>. However, the fact that timetables are in the curriculum doesn’t mean the curriculum is fair.</p>
<p>That is the underlying issue with standardised tests – they need a standard curriculum. We might want to benchmark students’ literacy and numeracy, but to do that we need to ask questions, and questions are always embedded in culture. The question is – whose culture? </p>
<p>The Australian curriculum has been criticised as being “<a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/items/b0d2d92b-b2c0-4691-aed3-d456128768b2/1/">metro-centric</a>”, in line with teachers’ comments about the tests having no bearing to the students’ lives. While we tend to accept cultural differences for students of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, and students from language backgrounds other than English, we often don’t consider rural kids to be different. </p>
<p>However, the international field of <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137275486">rural literacies</a> has shown us that rural people use different literacy constructions. In spatial reasoning, a key numeracy skill, we know that rural people use different spatial dimensions when drawing maps - not like the city blocks common in NAPLAN tests. </p>
<p>If we continue to ignore these difference in the construction of standardised tests, we will continue to produce disadvantage for rural students.</p>
<h2>The problem of averages</h2>
<p>To have a standard to compare results against in standardised testing, there first needs to be a “standard”. How this standard, and average achievement, is skewed in countries like Australia, where <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7ESnapshot%20of%20Australia,%202016%7E1">nearly 70% live in capital cities</a>. They skew the data to their own norm, reinforcing the cultural relevance (or irrelevance, in the bush) of the tests and curriculum and making these standards seem normal and just. </p>
<p>Typically, results are <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au/results-and-reports">reported as</a> “metropolitan” and then “rural” students, with achievement in one compared to the other. This approach, however, collapses a lot of difference and creates much of the problem. When we break down NAPLAN by the geographic classifications used by the Australia Bureau of Statistics (major city, inner regional, outer regional, remote, very remote) and control for socioeconomic background and Indigenous status we get something different. Instead, we find that the negative associations are with areas surrounding large cities, and actually get better the further away one goes from the city, until we hit very remote areas. </p>
<p>The problem is numbers and averages, and how we talk about places as “the same”. There is great socioeconomic diversity, and local environmental differences between, for instance, Port Macquarie and Dubbo. </p>
<h2>We’re still asking the wrong questions</h2>
<p>This year, NAPLAN tests have <a href="http://reports.acara.edu.au/NAP">revealed</a> that student performance has only improved slightly since tests were introduced a decade ago. While we are awaiting the final report, <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au/results-and-reports/national-reports">previous data</a> have shown the gap between the top and bottom, rural and city has not improved significantly either. So all this money, and test anxiety experienced by children, has only reinforced what 40 years of educational sociology already told us: culture matters in education. </p>
<p>In the absence of sophisticated ways of measuring and reporting achievement, we fall back on old failed methods. All NAPLAN has done is reinforce a social gradient of advantage and disadvantage, and seemingly legitimise unequal outcomes. The process of schooling is deemed to be neutral, when in fact its process is the key issue. </p>
<p>Is it any surprise rural students seem to perform worse when to succeed they
have to learn about a foreign place? Try finding a science text with examples from the country, or novels about rural Australia (the real ones, not the romantic ones). As a result, students have to mentally leave their rural place everyday and imagine themselves in another world. </p>
<p>Standardised testing relies on getting the underlying curriculum right. If that curriculum continues to legitimise the marginalisation of people or groups, we cannot say we got it right.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86305/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Roberts receives funding from the Australian Government. . </span></em></p>If we fail to recognise that standardised tests are metro-centric, we will continue to produce disadvantage for rural students.Philip Roberts, Assistant Professor (Curriculum Inquiry / Rural Education), University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/746152017-04-17T19:46:03Z2017-04-17T19:46:03ZWhen it comes to housing affordability debates, everything old is new again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163226/original/image-20170330-8580-vvltyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Barnaby Joyce and Scott Morrison have channelled 1940s-era debates in their comments on housing affordability.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Sam Mooy</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As politicians across Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-almost-a-world-leader-in-home-building-so-that-isnt-a-fix-for-affordability-73514">grapple with a fix</a> for housing affordability, you might be forgiven for thinking this was the first time the nation has confronted a crisis in housing. But analysis of documents from the reconstruction period following the second world war finds that, as the war was drawing to a close, concern was building about housing availability and affordability.</p>
<p>Some of the issues, arguments and solutions being presented today are extremely similar to those consuming Australian politicians and policymakers three-quarters of a century ago. </p>
<h2>Housing and fertility</h2>
<p>Treasurer Scott Morrison <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/people-are-delaying-having-children-so-they-can-buy-a-house-scott-morrison-20170312-guwnm1.html">recently asserted</a> that the housing affordability crisis was so severe that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>People are putting off when they buy their house. They are even putting off when they have kids so they can save more. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The links between housing affordability and the fertility of the national population are difficult to make at the best of times. But Morrison is not the first to make this connection. </p>
<p>In 1944, housing reformer Oswald “Oz” Barnett connected the declining national birth rate with a lack of quality and affordable housing. <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1599057?lookfor=author:(Oswald%20Barnett)&offset=17&max=19">He argued</a> that the: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… tragic lack of decent dwellings is rapidly leading us along the road to national race suicide […] One cannot blame a woman for refusing to bring a baby into the world […] nor blame the expectant mother, when her baby does come, for refusing to have another baby until she is able to obtain a house.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Similarly, in its second interim report in 1944, the <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2843335?lookfor=commonwealth%20housing%20commission&offset=5&max=343">Commonwealth Housing Commission</a> reasoned that the lack of affordable housing stock available was “one of the major factors in the limitation of families” and the “alarming decline in the Australian birth rate”.</p>
<h2>Rural spaces as the solution</h2>
<p>While rural Australia had its own housing problems – and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-housing-affordability-crisis-in-regional-australia-yes-and-heres-why-71808">still does today</a> – it also offered a solution to the problem of a low national birth rate. Sidney Luker, a civil engineer and town planner in New South Wales, <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2319960?lookfor=author:(walter%20bunning)&offset=11&max=13">observed that</a> the decline in the national fertility was “naturally more apparent in the capital cities than in the country”.</p>
<p>His solution? Get people to move to the country via decentralisation policies.</p>
<p>Not only were those living in rural Australia more likely to have children, but life in the country was argued to be naturally superior. Journalist and historian <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/749306?lookfor=title:(War%20Aims%20of%20a%20Plain%20Australia)&offset=1&max=394913">Charles Bean</a> argued that “decentralisation” was necessary for the “health, conveniences and improvement of the big cities”.</p>
<p>Architect, town planner and key contributor to the Commonwealth Housing Commission <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2235723?lookfor=author:(walter%20bunning)&offset=6&max=13">Walter Bunning</a> also believed that decentralisation would improve “housing conditions” and reduce the time workers spent travelling to their places of employment. This would prevent people from becoming a “race of ‘straphangers’” – people spending a long time on transport to and from work.</p>
<p>Such arguments are eerily similar to those we hear today about the costs of congestion that come with affordable housing being on the outskirts of our major cities. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-24/barnarby-joyce-urges-aspiring-home-owners-to-look-beyond-sydney/8209496">argued that</a> home buyers who couldn’t afford property in the major cities should consider moving to regional Australia. He said “there are other parts of Australia” to buy housing. </p>
<h2>Housing affordability and political risk</h2>
<p>Political and policy minds were also focused on fixing housing problems during the 1940s due to the risk of political discontent. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2316916?lookfor=(author:Council%20OR%20author:of%20OR%20author:Social%20OR%20author:Services%20OR%20author:NSW)%20AND%20(title:Report%20OR%20title:on%20OR%20title:Housing)%20AND%20(date:%5B1940%20TO%201950%5D)&offset=1&max=520">Council of Social Services NSW</a> explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Bad housing fosters the growth of anti-democratic opinion – the frame of mind of the ‘have not’. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/713131?lookfor=author:(Oswald%20Barnett)&offset=1&max=19">Barnett</a> and fellow social housing campaigners Walter Burt and Frank Heath noted “an increasingly bitter contest between […] capitalism [and …] labour”. </p>
<p><a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1599057?lookfor=author:(Oswald%20Barnett)&offset=17&max=19">Barnett</a> argued that this contest was being waged over housing:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The fight is centring on the struggles for houses for the people, […] houses that they can rent, or buy, at prices within their capacity to pay.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Politicians and policymakers today have not made a direct connection between problems of housing affordability and the political instability that comes with it. But they are no doubt highly attuned to it. They need only look to the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2010/11/12/5-long-term-consequences-of-the-recession/#5875d93144ec">US</a> and <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2014/06/10/mind-the-gaps-the-political-consequences-of-the-great-recession-in-europe/">Europe</a> and the part housing has played in contributing to political uncertainty in those places to understand the importance of tackling the problem in Australia.</p>
<p>Important differences exist between the the housing problems of 1940s Australia and those we confront in 2017. However, a historical perspective augments our understanding of contemporary housing debates and policies. It can provide more context and detail on potential ways forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74615/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rae Dufty-Jones has received funding from the Australian Research Council and Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.</span></em></p>It’s not the first time Australia has grappled with concerns about affordable housing. History offers insights that can help inform contemporary debates and policies.Rae Dufty-Jones, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/705812017-01-09T19:33:48Z2017-01-09T19:33:48ZWheat, sheep or Elvis Presley? Rural Australia has had to change its tune<p>Rural and regional Australia have had a hard time of late. The economies of Sydney and Melbourne are growing, but much of the rest of their states <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-big-cities-strike-back-why-sydney-and-melbourne-are-closer-than-you-think-20160415-go7o9b.html">are not</a>. The population of regional areas <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3218.0Main%20Features152014-15?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3218.0&issue=2014-15&num=&view=">is stagnating</a> and agriculture is struggling. </p>
<p>Perhaps worst of all there is a feeling that no-one in Canberra or in the booming coastal periphery cares about this. The people of Orange have <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-21/orange-by-election-won-by-shooters,-fishers-and-farmers-party/8043658">apparently spoken</a>.</p>
<p>Outside Sydney, behind what seems like an impervious sandstone curtain, not all is well. Even the largest towns in regional New South Wales are struggling to retain their populations and have faced difficult economic times through the present decade, although the drought years have faded away.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150658/original/image-20161219-24265-1sg00b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Outside the big cities, many populations in regional and rural Australia are declining or static.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3218.0Main%20Features152014-15?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3218.0&issue=2014-15&num=&view=">ABS, Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2014-15</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-five-strong-pillar-economy-agriculture-40388">Agriculture still matters</a>, for employment and exports, but mechanisation has cost jobs. Farming is still how people see rural and regional Australia, but it is certainly not the only thing.</p>
<p>There is more to rural Australia than agriculture, and most places have shifted away from the mass production of agricultural commodities – move over the wheat-sheep belt – towards the marketing of rural lifestyles and landscapes. Farming becomes valuable as scenery.</p>
<p>City people can be tempted for weekends away and old-fashioned farm stays have evolved. But that works most easily for NSW coastal towns – like <a href="http://berry.org.au/">Berry</a> and <a href="http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/south-coast/kiama-area">Kiama</a> – that are within striking distances of capital cities. More distant inland places have had to work a little harder to diversify.</p>
<p>Ironically, Orange is one of the towns that have led the way in terms of change. An enormously successful <a href="http://orangefoodweek.com.au/">FOOD (Food of Orange District) festival</a> has drawn in city crowds and tempted some to remain. At the other end of the state, the <a href="http://www.tcmf.com.au/">Tamworth Country Music Festival</a> has grown every year and been a massive boost to regional income.</p>
<h2>Jumpsuiting on the bandwagon</h2>
<p>But it is probably even smaller towns that have benefited most from festivals. Most successful of all has been Parkes, otherwise simply a transport centre on the wheat and sheep plains. This week it celebrates the 25th anniversary of the <a href="http://www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au/">Elvis Festival</a>. </p>
<p>The whim of a handful of townsfolk, one of whom later changed his name to Elvis Lennox, the festival began in a tiny way in 1993. Parkes citizens were doubtful – what had Elvis to do with rural Australia? But the local newspaper, the tourism office and the rugby club – in jumpsuited style – got on board, and the festival boomed.</p>
<p>Once it lasted barely a weekend. Now it lasts five days. Two hundred people came to the first festival – now there are 20,000, almost twice the town’s population. Accommodation is booked five years in advance, home hosting extends to nearby towns like Forbes and even Orange, and tents overflow on Graceland on the Green. </p>
<p>The festival brings in more than A$10 million, employs many people, and has enabled even improbable local businesses to prosper. The local vet offers “Elvis costumes for the smaller dog”. The two tattoo parlours bring in new seasonal Elvis designs. Only the funeral directors appear to have failed to gain any trickle-down effects.</p>
<p>Certainly luck helps, but inspiration, patience and creativity – which are not only metropolitan traits – really work. Parkes now has its King’s Castle, an Elvis museum that ensures that Elvis and his famous gold lamé suit never leave town.</p>
<p>Where Parkes has succeeded, its neighbours have sought to follow. Trundle, once famous for having the <a href="http://www.visitparkes.com.au/about/our-towns/trundle.aspx">widest main street</a> in the country, is now more famous for its <a href="http://www.trundleabbafestival.com/">ABBA festival</a>. Kandos, not much further from Parkes, is working hard to develop its <a href="http://visitmudgeeregion.com.au/whats-on/bob-marley-festival">Bob Marley Festival</a>. </p>
<p>Who will claim Leonard Cohen? Unlike Elvis, he at least had visited Australia.</p>
<h2>Musters and other big celebrations</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150697/original/image-20161219-24310-109i7xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Utes in the Paddock has been so succesful in promoting tiny Ootha that the council is relocating it to the larger Condobolin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasewong/6194677079/in/photolist-arpkFe-8Br3XD-6YaHUy-8Buv8o-6Y6SuK-6XYZSA-8Br3Xk-6XYZSC-6YaHTA-6YaHUq-8Br3XR-8BrbWV-8Br3Xz-8BqDfn-6Y6SuM-8BqDfx-6XYZSu-9L7FAw-8nn1hm-6Y6Sux-6XYZSq-6XYZSo-6Y6Sur-6Y6Sup-6YaHUC-aGafoV-7hZfMh-9L4S3H-7hTQLD-7i15VN-7i15VG-7i15VJ-7hZfMA-7bf1YS-7i15VS-7hZfMw-7hTQLx-7hZfME-7i1neN-arpmjn-9L4UGa-7hZfMq-7i1neU-7i15VQ-7i1ney-7i2P71-7hY213-7hY21b-7i2P79-7i15Vy">Jason Wong/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is music in the air in NSW and that music is creating employment, placing and keeping some small towns on the map and simply being a source of enjoyment when, as in the drought years of earlier this century, times were particularly tough.</p>
<p>The annual <a href="http://www.deniutemuster.com.au/">Deni Ute Muster</a> has spurred revival in Deniliquin. The more static <a href="http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/country-nsw/parkes-area/condobolin/attractions/utes-in-the-paddock">Utes in the Paddock</a> – an open-air gallery of utes mounted in a parody of Stonehenge – breathed new life into tiny Ootha. Glen Innes remembered its Celtic ancestry and constructed an impressive circle of <a href="https://www.gleninnestourism.com/australian-standing-stones/">standing stones</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the citizens of Nyngan, at the centre of Bogan Shire, are trusting that the statue of the <a href="http://www.traveller.com.au/big-bogan-statute-unveiled-in-nsw-town-of-nyngan-gjk3ct">Big Bogan</a> (“who stands proud with his mullet, stubbies singlet and Southern Cross tattoo”) will breathe some new life into the town in the wake of the success of the <a href="https://www.australiantraveller.com/nsw/north-coast/coffs-harbour/the-big-banana/">Big Banana</a> in Coffs Harbour. And who could resist Priscilla Queen of the Desert’s birthday bash at Broken Hill’s <a href="http://www.bhfestival.com/">Broken Heel Festival</a>?</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"641385854481510401"}"></div></p>
<p>But it is not only festivals. <a href="http://www.bhmtb.asn.au/course.php">Mountain-biking trails</a> may work just as well. Silverton has protected its <a href="http://silverton.org.au/silvertons-heritage-walking-trail/">heritage buildings</a> and become a centre for the visual arts. Bowral <a href="http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/country-nsw/southern-highlands/bowral/attractions/bradman-museum-and-international-cricket-hall-fame">can thank Don Bradman</a> for growing up there. Hill End has set the pace in reviving <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/07/01/4265620.htm">gold panning</a>.</p>
<p>None of these activities can ever effectively replace agriculture, but all have a part to play in making regional Australia a richer and more vibrant place.</p>
<p>Regional Australia cannot be written off. Services, tourism and the creative industries have become a vital part of the regional mix. And the smartest regions are those that have recognised this, sought diversity and flexibility, and become creative. </p>
<p>On January 12, the <a href="http://www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au/event/elvis-express/">Elvis Express</a> will roll into town, and Parkes will celebrate 25 years of a festival that has created employment, generated income, provided a degree of pleasure in the drought years and given one town more than a reason to hope.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>John Connell and Chris Gibson are the authors of <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/outback-elvis/">Outback Elvis: The story of a festival, its fans and a town called Parkes</a>, which has just been published by New South.</em></p>
<p><em>This article has been amended to correct a reference to Bradman’s birthplace (he was born in Cootamundra but grew up in Bowral).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70581/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Gibson receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Connell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Outside the capital cities and the coastal fringes, the towns and people of rural and regional Australia have had to be inventive to get through the tough times.John Connell, Professor of Human Geography, University of SydneyChris Gibson, Director, UOW Global Challenges Program & Professor of Human Geography, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/590632016-06-28T19:33:11Z2016-06-28T19:33:11ZElection 2016: how well are the major parties meeting the needs of rural and regional Australia?<p>How far do policies announced during the 2016 federal election campaign go towards addressing <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2016-the-issues-in-non-metropolitan-australia-59062">key policy issues for non-metropolitan Australia</a>?</p>
<p>Much of what we’ve heard has been packaged up in funding announcements. Most of these are followed by accusations of overspending, <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2016-will-the-infrastructure-promises-meet-australias-needs-61140">pork-barrelling</a> and/or incompetence. </p>
<p>Still, there is a compelling simplicity to funding announcements. Dollar values take the complexity out of policy communication. Numbers in the millions say, “we’re serious about this”. Numbers in the billions say, “we’re really serious”. </p>
<p>Contrast this with more considered approaches to policy development. In recent years, federal governments have released white papers on <a href="http://agwhitepaper.agriculture.gov.au/">agricultural competitiveness</a>, <a href="http://industry.gov.au/ONA/WhitePaper/index.html">Northern Australia</a>, <a href="http://ewp.industry.gov.au/">energy</a> and the <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/food/publications/national_food_plan/white-paper">food industry</a>. None of the major parties have promised to review or change the policy directions set out in these documents. Neither have they promised to initiate new white paper processes in other policy domains important to rural and regional Australia.</p>
<p>The obvious conclusion is that non-metropolitan Australia can expect little substantial policy reform regardless of who wins the election. True, planned changes may not have been announced. But there has been little to suggest over the last decade or more that the major parties have substantially different views on key areas like agriculture and trade. </p>
<p>What significant policy movement we did see following the last election had been clearly signalled during the 2013 campaign. We all knew the incoming Coalition government would be <a href="http://www.markcoulton.com.au/Portals/0/2013ElectionPolicies/The%20Coalitions%202030%20Vision%20for%20Developing%20Northern%20Australia%20-%20National%20Party.pdf">investing in Northern Australia</a>, paying farmers to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-18/whats-in-the-coaltions-carbon-policy-for-farmers/4964636">store carbon in soils</a>, establishing the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3797086.htm">Green Army</a> and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/tony-abbotts-indigenous-vision-takes-shape/story-fn9hm1pm-1226694578569">rationalising Indigenous programs</a> into one agency. </p>
<p>Many will be surprised at how little debate we’ve seen during the 2016 campaign about these initiatives. </p>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2>
<p>Despite (or because of) the potential for major infrastructure projects to create local opportunities there have been myriad like-for-like announcements. </p>
<p>All major parties are promising to fund road upgrades and to contribute A$100 million towards a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/coalition-to-match-labor-funding-promise-for-townsville-stadium/7504276">new football stadium in Townsville</a>. All support extension of the <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/phone/mobile-services-and-coverage/mobile-black-spot-programme">Mobile Black Spot Program</a>. None have proposed unwinding existing initiatives such as the $5 billion <a href="http://www.industry.gov.au/Industry/Northern-Australia-Infrastructure-Facility/Pages/default.aspx">Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility</a> or $2 billion <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/natural-resources/nwilf">National Water Infrastructure Loan Facility</a>.</p>
<p>North Queenslanders will be happy about the stadium funding, just as other communities will be pleased to receive support for local projects. Lack of detail on energy and information and telecommunications (ICT) infrastructure, however, will be a disappointment.</p>
<p>Modern ICT offers substantial opportunity to improve the competitiveness of rural industries as well as to reduce social isolation. Rural people are acutely aware of this. They want more than finger pointing over who is responsible for <a href="https://theconversation.com/expert-panel-the-state-of-the-national-broadband-network-56073">problems in delivering the National Broadband Network</a>. </p>
<h2>Unemployment</h2>
<p>All major parties propose policies to promote national employment growth – for example, using trade agreements to expand exports and economic growth. However, place-specific strategies are also needed to deal with rural and regional unemployment due to variation in the composition and dynamics of non-metro labour markets.</p>
<p>Place-specific employment strategies have certainly not been absent from the campaign. They do, however, lack coherence. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/pm-flies-into-cairns-with-30m-plan-to-tackle-citys-shameful-jobs-record/news-story/aa4812c24ff153dc815ce1b91575f050">In Cairns</a>, for example, the Coalition has promised $20 million for businesses willing to employ local workers and $10 million for an Innovation Centre linking students, researchers and entrepreneurs. Cairns is my town and I’ll be happy to see projects like this go ahead. </p>
<p>Other electorates provide similar examples of nationally small, but locally significant, commitments to tackle unemployment. The question will be whether we can learn enough from these to generate more widespread impact. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/coalitions-policy-revitalise-jobs-and-growth-townsville">Townsville</a> is particularly interesting in this regard because there is an overarching conceptual framework that, if successful, could be replicated elsewhere. Following the lead of British cities, the Coalition has promised a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/city-deals-nine-reasons-this-imported-model-of-urban-development-demands-due-diligence-57040">City Deal</a>” for Townsville. This is intended to integrate long-term infrastructure investment across all tiers of government to boost productivity and employment growth.</p>
<p>Implementing City Deals (or something like them) will require bipartisan support and meaningful negotiation with local stakeholders. Such a process will stand as a direct challenge to ad hoc, announcement-driven campaigning in future elections.</p>
<h2>Diversification and new economy jobs</h2>
<p>Innovation and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) are very much terms in vogue. <a href="http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/labors_positive_policies_for_agriculture_and_regional_australia">Labor</a> and the <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2015/12/07/regional-and-rural-australia-reap-benefits-innovation">Coalition</a> alike are spruiking their role in the development of the rural R&D system and launching a host of additional innovation programs. Agriculture and mining will both rely heavily on research and innovation in ICT, robotics and (for agriculture) genetics to maintain their competitive edge.</p>
<p>This will mean that, regardless of whether or not they are profitable, agriculture and mining will also employ fewer and fewer people.</p>
<p>So what is the plan then to boost innovation and research in ways that diversify rural and regional economies? Is it enough to ensure that at least some of the national expenditure on research and higher education lands in the regions?</p>
<p>Labor is promising to <a href="http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/labors_positive_policies_for_agriculture_and_regional_australia">create a network of 20 regional innovation hubs</a>. While it is difficult to imagine that expenditure of up to $500,000 per hub over three years will itself be transformative, at least it demonstrates awareness of the need for regional specificity. </p>
<p>Similar conclusions can be drawn about the Coalition’s <a href="http://www.industry.gov.au/industry/Industry-Growth-Centres/Pages/default.aspx">Industry Growth Centres</a> and promise of an innovation centre in far-north Queensland. </p>
<p>Both parties’ regional innovation commitments have merit, but greater and longer-term investment will be required, I suspect, to achieve any kind of scale outside established industries. City Deals (or let’s call them Regional Deals) that are as focused on knowledge and innovation infrastructure as they are on transport, energy and communication infrastructure might provide a useful framework.</p>
<h2>Indigenous participation</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Finance_and_Public_Administration/Commonwealth_Indigenous/Report">Senate inquiry</a> into the federal government’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy identified multiple failures. The National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples released a <a href="http://nationalcongress.com.au/the-redfern-statement/">statement calling for urgent and far-reaching reform</a> of Indigenous affairs. </p>
<p>Yet we have heard nothing of substance from either the Coalition or Labor about their plans for Indigenous affairs. </p>
<h2>Health, education and social services</h2>
<p>Through this campaign we have heard many claims about how much money has been removed from the human services and health portfolios, or been misspent, by previous governments. </p>
<p>We have heard <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-medicare-under-threat-making-sense-of-the-privatisation-debate-61308">claims about secret plans to privatise services like Medicare</a>. But we have heard little of substance about rural health, education or social services.</p>
<h2>Climate change</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-taskforce-more-than-1-000-km-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-bleached-57282">bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef</a> ensured <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">climate change figured somewhere</a> in this election. The Greens aside, though, no-one has campaigned hard on climate change. Nor have they released new policies. </p>
<p>Despite all the claims and counterclaims about climate policy, both <a href="http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/carbon_capture_on_the_land">Labor</a> and the <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan/protecting-our-environment">Coalition</a> have proven keen to talk up their support for carbon farming and revegetation. </p>
<p>It’s easy to see why the major political parties want to talk up carbon farming – it offers landholders a potential source of income while sidestepping politically messy arguments about the reality of climate change. </p>
<p>At some point, though, these arguments need to be had. </p>
<h2>Natural resource management</h2>
<p>Discussion about natural resource management through this campaign has been almost exclusively focused on how much money (those funding announcements again) will <a href="https://theconversation.com/policycheck-what-are-the-parties-really-offering-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef-60927">be spent to protect the Great Barrier Reef</a>. </p>
<p>Improving water quality <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-pollution-controls-are-not-enough-heres-what-we-can-do-52861">by improving land management</a> in the reef catchments is an important thing to do, but lack of detail on how money will be spent makes it difficult to compare the real value of electoral promises. </p>
<p>We know even less about the implications of these promises for land and water management outside reef catchments. Will the politics of the Greater Barrier Reef revive our national commitment to sustainable resource management? Or will money be <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/turnbull-to-pitch-$1bn-plan-to-protect-great-barrier-reef/7503910">siphoned from other resource management programs</a> to pay for the reef’s protection?</p>
<h2>Agriculture</h2>
<p>Agriculture arguably receives more policy attention than any other predominantly non-metropolitan industry.</p>
<p>White papers, policy reviews and industry plans emerge with remarkable regularity. </p>
<p>Again, though, these do not reveal major policy differences between the major parties. Trade agreements, biosecurity, export support, agribusiness development, foreign investment and so on are shared priorities. </p>
<h2>To the election …</h2>
<p>Lack of policy differentiation on national issues will not necessarily be mirrored on an electorate-by-electorate basis. The importance of local projects – a road upgrade here, a boat ramp there – cannot be dismissed. Any local member capable (or seen to be capable) of getting things done will increase trust in themselves and their parties. </p>
<p>As the major parties blame their opponents for everything that is wrong with the world one moment and then echo each other’s policies the next, trust will be an important factor.</p>
<p>The wild card in all this is the independents. <a href="https://www.ausparty.org.au/our-plan/australia.html">Katter’s Australian Party</a> and the <a href="http://senatorlazarus.com/senator-lazarus-please-help-me-stop-the-sell-off-of-australia/">Glenn Lazarus Team</a> are campaigning to restrict foreign investment in land. In the event of a hung parliament the major parties will need to start negotiating. </p>
<p>Who knows what they’ll be willing to trade off?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59063/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Lockie receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Council of Learned Academies.</span></em></p>On the big national policies affecting non-metropolitan Australia, such as agriculture and trade, the major party differences are minor. That’s why the election focus turns to local projects.Stewart Lockie, Director, The Cairns Institute, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/590622016-06-07T20:23:07Z2016-06-07T20:23:07ZElection 2016: the issues in non-metropolitan Australia<p>Rural and regional Australia is a big place. That’s obvious enough. Still, it’s easy to forget that the communities and industries of non-metropolitan Australia are diverse. They face a variety of challenges and often have different, if not competing, stakes in government policy. </p>
<p>But what are the issues that deserve attention leading up to the 2016 federal election? While not everyone living in rural and regional Australia will see eye-to-eye on how these issues should be resolved, I will return to this list closer to election day to see just how many have made their way onto the national political agenda.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2>
<p>Government investments in transport, energy, telecommunications and water infrastructure are fundamental to the productivity of rural and regional industries. </p>
<p>Made well, these investments can enhance economic and social participation, minimise negative environmental impacts, and support adaptation to climate variability and change.</p>
<p>It follows that, when it comes to evaluating the case for public investment, one eye needs to be on the business case while the other needs to be on the potential for social and environmental co-benefits. This is where most of the issues listed below come into play. </p>
<h2>Unemployment</h2>
<p>Nationally, unemployment rates in non-metropolitan Australia are similar to those in the capital cities. However, rural and regional labour markets are volatile, with extremely high unemployment in particular locales. Place-specific strategies to assist these locales deserve consideration.</p>
<p>The loss of over <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/australian-jobs-2015-publication">55,000 mining jobs</a> nationally since late 2012 hit a number of regional cities hard. In <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets-publication">Mackay</a>, unemployment rose from 11.7% to 18.9% in 2015. In <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets-publication">Muswellbrook</a>, it went from 9.8% to 14.9%. The sector is expected to shed another 31,900 jobs by late 2020.</p>
<p>Other non-metropolitan regions experience particularly high youth unemployment. In March 2016, <a href="http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/LFR_SAFOUR">young people aged 15-24 were unemployed</a> at rates of 31.3% in western Queensland, 22.3% in Cairns, 19.7% on the NSW mid-north coast and 19.5% in the Hunter Valley. The national average for this age group was 12.2%. For all workers the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6202.0Main%20Features2Apr%202016?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6202.0&issue=Apr%202016&num=&view=">unemployment rate was 5.7%</a>.</p>
<p>Nowhere in the country, though, are unemployment levels higher than in predominantly Indigenous townships like <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets-publication">Aurukun, Palm Island and Yarrabah</a>. Unemployment today in these former forced relocation sites hovers above 50%. That’s nearly three times the already <a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-ways-we-can-improve-indigenous-employment-60377">high national unemployment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people</a>.</p>
<h2>Diversification and new economy jobs</h2>
<p>Changing workforce profiles mean that growth in the value of traditional rural and regional industries won’t necessarily solve the problem of unemployment.</p>
<p>Agricultural produce <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/58529ACD49B5ECE0CA2577A000154456?Opendocument">recorded an increase in value</a> between 2010-11 and 2014-15 of about 13%, or A$6 billion. Over roughly the same period, though, <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/australian-jobs-2015-publication">agriculture, forestry and fisheries shed nearly 40,000 jobs</a>. Another 9,400 jobs are expected to go by late 2020. Innovation is driving improvements across many aspects of primary production, including labour productivity.</p>
<p>The same pattern is likely to be replicated in mining. Even if we assume a recovery in mineral and energy markets, we must equally assume that investment in labour-saving technology will continue to rise. </p>
<p>Innovations in remote sensing, ITC and robotics will enable the <a href="https://theconversation.com/robots-red-dust-and-the-future-of-mining-towns-5814">automation of more and more jobs</a> on site, favouring a concentration of operational jobs in metropolitan control centres. </p>
<p>By contrast, jobs in health care and social assistance and professional, scientific and technical services <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/australian-jobs-2015-publication">grew 20.3%</a> nationally in the five years to November 2015. More than one-third of healthcare and social assistance employees (more than half-a-million people) are located in non-metropolitan regions. Of these, 45% work part-time and 79% are women. </p>
<p>Other human service industries, such as education and training, are also significant and growing regional employers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, only 18% of professional, scientific and technical services employees (184,200 people) work regionally. Of these, 22% are part-time and 40% are women. </p>
<p>The national shift to professional, scientific and technical services is helping compensate for declining employment in traditionally male, blue-collar industries like manufacturing. However, the benefits of a rapidly growing professional and scientific workforce are concentrated in the major cities. This needs to change. </p>
<p>Both existing industries and industries of the future require access to high-level scientific and technical expertise. The more such expertise can be nurtured within non-metropolitan areas the better placed they will be to sustain their competitiveness, participate in the knowledge economy and diversify employment opportunities.</p>
<h2>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3238.0.55.001June%202011?OpenDocument">Two-thirds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians</a> live in rural and regional areas. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Closing_the_Gap_2015_Report.pdf">Closing the Gap</a> reports demonstrate little progress against commitments to do so something about the disadvantage many experience. I will focus here on two issues with particularly direct implications for economic and social participation: incarceration and native title.</p>
<p>The rate at which Aboriginal and Torres Strait people <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/overcoming-indigenous-disadvantage">were imprisoned</a> rose 57.4% between 2000 and 2013, while the rate for non-Indigenous Australians remained steady. This suggests multiple policy failures related both directly and indirectly to the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>By contrast, the last decade has also seen multiple native title determinations. More than one-third of the Australian land mass is either <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/26/indigenous-australia-is-open-for-business-but-we-need-investment-to-realise-our-potential">owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander</a> peoples or has those peoples’ interests formally recognised. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-white-paper-a-game-changer-for-northern-australia-43458">Indigenous Ranger programs</a> have proven extremely promising as means to care for these lands and create meaningful employment opportunities. The opportunity to utilise native title assets to build businesses and yet more jobs is immense. Realising that opportunity will require genuine partnerships with native title rights holders and creative approaches to investment. </p>
<h2>Health, education and social services</h2>
<p>Coupled with unemployment, inadequate access to services is a key dimension of <a href="http://ruralhealth.org.au/documents/publicseminars/2013_Sep/Joint-report.pdf">rural disadvantage</a>. </p>
<p>It is no secret that access to services such as health and education diminishes the further you get from capital cities. The cost of delivery goes up and the task of recruiting high-quality staff gets harder. </p>
<p>The situation may not be so bad in large regional centres, but in rural and remote locales it is estimated that <a href="http://ruralhealth.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/fact-sheet-27-election2016-13-may-2016.pdf">lack of access</a> to GPs, dentists, pharmacies and other primary health facilities results in about 60,000 preventable hospitalisations every year. The National Rural Health Alliance identifies access to mental health, dental health, Medicare Locals, aged care and Indigenous health as urgent priorities. </p>
<h2>Climate change</h2>
<p>Almost certainly, climate change will prove a <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF07/social%20and%20political%20context.pdf">major disruptive force for agriculture</a> and other rural industries. Existing strategies for dealing with climatic variability will help land managers adapt to low levels of temperature rise. As climate change intensifies, though, they will need to consider more fundamental shifts in land use. </p>
<p>Just as importantly, global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could increase the cost of fossil-fuel-based inputs or create barriers to the sale of produce seen as emissions-intensive. </p>
<p>Rural industries will need to work with government and research institutions to reduce their emissions, adapt to changing environments and develop new income streams.</p>
<h2>Natural resource management</h2>
<p>The environmental impacts of rural land use attract consistent media and political interest. Land clearing, habitat loss, damage to iconic ecosystems, water allocations etc make regular front-page news. </p>
<p>Natural resource management policy has been most successful when it has been less about penalising land users and more about long-term collaboration in support of environmentally and economically sustainable use. </p>
<p>For several electoral cycles, however, natural resource management programs have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/another-broken-promise-budget-switches-landcare-for-green-army-26818">renamed, reprioritised and/or replaced</a>. Regardless of the merits or limitations of individual programs, rural and regional Australia needs a return to coherent and stable resource management policy.</p>
<h2>Agriculture</h2>
<p>Agriculture utilises <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF07/social%20and%20political%20context.pdf">more than half the land mass</a> and contributes more to the economic vitality of Australia than most people appreciate. Despite decades of declining terms of trade and periods of intense drought, the productivity and value of agriculture have continued to outperform many other parts of the economy. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, thousands of farmers have been forced out of the industry. Fewer people than ever are taking on farming as an occupation.</p>
<p>It is no longer reasonable to expect agriculture alone to support vibrant rural and regional communities. It is reasonable, though, to position Australian agriculture to capitalise on population and income growth in the Asia-Pacific region. </p>
<p>Policy needs both an eye to this potential and a sensitivity to the very real challenges those in the sector face.</p>
<h2>To the election</h2>
<p>Already in this campaign, a handful of non-metropolitan electorates and issues have attracted attention. It will be interesting to see if former independent MP Tony Windsor can pick off Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-top-dog-to-underdog-tony-windsors-fight-in-new-england-59447">in New England</a>, but the dynamics here tell us little about what is going on in rural and regional electorates more generally.</p>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef has emerged as one of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-election-is-our-last-chance-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef-59381">more prominent election issues</a> so far. Politicians of all hues have been visiting North Queensland to announce or defend natural resource and climate policies relevant to its health. </p>
<p>The audience for these announcements is probably more national than local. Electorates within the Great Barrier Reef catchment have lost numerous mining jobs and voters there will be just as keen to know the plan for employment growth. Can <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-will-the-barrier-reef-recover-from-the-death-of-one-third-of-its-northern-corals-60186">reef health</a> and employment growth be reconciled?</p>
<p>I’ll comment more on how these issues are playing out closer to election day on July 2. A month is a long long time in politics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59062/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Lockie receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Council of Learned Academies.</span></em></p>What are the issues facing rural and regional Australia? The challenges are many and varied – and only some have made the national political agenda – but these areas deserve better than neglect.Stewart Lockie, Director, The Cairns Institute, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.