Affordable air travel linking the south-west with Melbourne is one of the ideas being touted by Liberal Party planners as a way of growing the region.
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Key Liberals met in Yambuk over the weekend hearing feedback and ideas on ways to encourage business and population growth in the south-west.
Among them was Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Population Policy and Housing Affordability Tim Smith, who chairs a taskforce designed to reduce congestion in Melbourne and build regional growth.
“Ninety-two per cent of Victoria’s population growth is in Melbourne and we don’t think that’s sustainable,” he said.
“We’re listening to people on how we can encourage business development and jobs growth and bringing it together in one coherent policy.”
Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell said air travel was one idea put forward to better link the south-west with the city.
“Encouraging other forms of transport such as air travel will bring the city closer and we’re looking at a way we can do that as a public-private partnership,” she said.
“We need to change the culture of people thinking about it too as a form of transportation – it will make it cheaper if more people do it.”
As well as improving roads and current rail links, Mrs Britnell said a light rail service between Warrnambool and Portland was another option being examined.
Mrs Britnell said strengthening the region’s agriculture industry, tapping into underground water, as well as growing other sectors such as tourism and manufacturing, were also important priorities.
“In the next 50 years we have to produce the same amount of food as a global community as we have in the past 500 years. That’s an enormous challenge but it’s also a terrific opportunity for south-west Victoria,” she said.
“We also have an underground water supply that hasn’t been optimised so we want to be proactive so we’re environmentally sustainable and optimise the opportunity that water provides.”
Mrs Britnell said the process also involved encouraging more professionals to the area and seeking feedback from industry.
“The policy of encouraging growth in the region through incentivising doctors, teachers, during their education phase… give them a taste of the region, and we’ve seen lots of examples of that in Warrnambool where people have come… and stayed because they appreciate the opportunities here,” she said.
“We have the solutions, it’s about shaping those solutions into policy and driving that.”
