Australian Local Government Association

Cr Paul Bell AM, ALGA President

» Cr Bell's Opening Address
Welcome to this - the ninth Regional Co-operation and Development Forum. This Forum provides us with an important opportunity to do a number of things. It allows us to assess the state of play in regional development in this country. Are we making progress, marking time or going out backwards? It also allows us to learn and share ideas about specific issues in regional development. ...

Mr Garry Weaven

Mr Garry Weaven is the founder and Executive Chair of Industry Fund Services Pty Ltd, which is a diversified financial services organisation owned by and providing products and services to a range of superannuation funds. His involvement with the Superannuation and Funds Management Industry follows a successful career in the union movement which culminated in being elected Assistant Secretary of the ACTU in 1986.

The ACTU position exposed Mr Weaven to industrial relations and social policy issues across a broad range of industries, as well as at the national level. He was a key architect and major driving force behind the ACTU's success in reforming the nature of superannuation and spreading it throughout the workforce during the 1980s.

Mr Weaven is a Board Member of VicUrban and Chair of Superpartners, the Industry Fund owned administration company. He is also a Director of Members Equity Bank (ME), which is owned by 42 superannuation funds. ME is responsible for Super Members’ Home Loans and is Australia’s newest rapidly growing bank.

• Download Mr Weaven's Powerpoint presentation (PPT 1.2 MB )
• Download Mr Weaven's speaking notes (PPT 286 kb )

Dr Peter Brain

Dr Peter Brain is a leading Australian economist and strategic thinker. He is the Executive Director of the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (National Economics), an organisation which he co-founded in 1984.

Dr Brain has spent three decades studying the strategic drivers of the Australian national and regional economies and the implications for forecasting, policy and infrastructure. He is co-author of the State of the Regions Report.

At the core of this analysis has been the building of large scale econometric models of national, state and regional economies. The insights from this work are reflected in four major books on the Australian economy, many articles and countless reports. The topics covered by Dr Brain include, energy and energy efficiency, population, macroeconomic and industry policy, the strategic drivers of regional development, financial aspects of development and the impact of migration.

Over recent years Peter has continued to prepare short, medium and long term forecasts of the economy and prepared large scale reports into the microelectronics industry, Australia’s infrastructure needs, the chemicals and plastics industry, the world energy supply and demand outlook to 2030, and the strategic drivers of the state economies. Over his working life Peter has been a consultant/adviser to the majority of Australia’s major companies.

• Download Dr Brains's Powerpoint presentation (PPT 1.2 MB )

Dr Craig Shepherd

Dr Craig Shepherd is the Principal Economist at National Economics where he heads the local government consultancy practice.

Dr Shepherd is regarded as Australia's leading specialist on regional economics. He is co-author of the State of the Regions Report and the architect of YourPlace, National Economics' regional economic database.

Dr Shepherd's in depth knowledge of the economic and social attributes that form the foundations of regional Australia provides a powerful tool in assisting local government to develop strategies to create strong regional cities and to plan for future prosperity in an increasingly competitive world.

"All regions within Australia face changes in their economic structures and, in the face of this change, policy and planning strategies must be developed to maximise economic activity, local amenity and sustainability" Dr Craig Shepherd.

• Download Dr Shepherd's Powerpoint presentation (PPT 3.2 MB )

The Hon Warren Truss MP, Minister for Transport and Regional Services

» Minister Truss's Plenary address
Broadband has been able to reach so many Australians is, in part, due to Government funding assistance. But we need to keep broadband in perspective. It is not something everyone wants, and it is not always as cheap as lower bandwidth services. Due to technical limitations, broadband is not something that is going to be available at extraordinarily high speeds everywhere, immediately.

The Hon Simon Crean MP, Shadow Minister for Regional Development

» Minister Crean's Plenary address
Federal Labor has long had an approach to Australia's regions that sets us apart from our political opponents. In 1973 the Whitlam Government established Australia's first Commonwealth Department of Urban and Regional Development. Whitlam made urban renewal his government's business, and created new statutory bodies to drive regional development. In my view no area of policy reform in the Whitlam era was more important than the Commonwealth's embrace of regional development responsibilities. The legacy of that approach is Labor's continuing commitment to build a sustainable future for our regions.