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Economic growth under the spotlight in SA’s regions

Ahead of its summit in Port Augusta on Wednesday, Regional Development South Australia released some more encouraging figures on growth in the state’s regions.

Oct 01, 2024, updated Oct 01, 2024

Regional Development South Australia (RDSA) will formally launch its 2024 Regional Blueprint at its annual summit in Port Augusta on Wednesday.

The Blueprint includes an analysis of 989 public and private projects highlighted $65.43 billion in capital expenditure under contemplation in regional South Australia, up from $62.562 last year.

With their summit partners id Informed Decisions, RDSA also noted that regional South Australia’s gross regional product grew from $31.78 billion to $35.89 billion – the strongest performance in at least 20 years.

This was led by the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sector, which represented 23.5 per cent of that output.

RDSA executive chair Rob Kerin said the figures were promising.

“It is again the strongest year since Regional Development Australia started tracking these projects for PIRSA, although growth has been more incremental this year and the increase in capital expenditure for forward projects is driven by additional investment in renewable energy projects,” Kerin said.

It is likely this steady growth in the projected pipeline will see a peak of realisations in the next two to three years.

However, Kerin was cautious about the contribution from the state’s agricultural sector in the immediate future.

“Despite a record year, we are very conscious that regional South Australia will require all its resilience, as two key factors weigh heavily,” he said.

“The first is the sustained cost pressure as inflation follows a slower-than-hoped pathway to the Reserve Bank’s target range.

“The second – current seasonal conditions, with nearly all the State recording well below average rainfall, and recent frost events, meaning the agriculture industry will be severely impacted.”

 

Member for Adelaide Steve Georganas, Minister Scriven and Deputy Chair RDSA with the Regional Blueprint. Photo: supplied

Wednesday’s summit will focus on the path to Net Zero and the advanced circular economy, and the opportunities and challenges they will bring.

Hydro Tasmania chair Richard Bolt, Hallett Group general manager of operations (Upper Spencer Gulf) Craig Cresp, and Circular Australia CEO Lisa McLean will be among those sharing their ideas.

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Speaking to InDaily before the summit, McLean said people are beginning to realise that achieving Net Zero is not possible without a circular economy.

“The circular economy is a framework that allows us to tackle these really complex issues, which are carbon, biodiversity loss and resource depletion,” McLean said.

“There’s more gold and silver in a tonne of iPhones than there is in a tonne of ore from a gold or silver mine.

“So, if you’re in the business of extracting gold or silver, you’d be thinking about the technologies that you’re using and the systems and infrastructure you’re using to get it.

“90 per cent of the things we make and produce are not utilised – they’re either burnt, landfilled, or we can’t access their values as they’re sitting in storage or in buildings or infrastructure that’s not used.

“It’s a really dumb kind of approach to running our economy, and that’s why businesses and boardrooms and governments are going, ‘hang on a sec, this is actually a critical risk for us, it’s a national security issue’.”

Also speaking at the Port Augusta summit will be Professor Andrew Beer, Executive Dean (Capital), University of South Australia Business, who will be on a panel discussing industry collaboration on carbon opportunities and challenges.

Beer said, currently, the main barrier to this is a lack of knowledge about the opportunities.

“In the sense that while commitment to the circular economy – and even the transition to a fossil carbon-free future – is an aspiration shared by many, often businesses … don’t have the time to acquire or get up to speed on the depth of information needed to inform collaborations in this area, and that is a major impediment to making progress,” he said.

“The more we talk about it and the more we realise that it’s a whole economy exercise, the more likely it is we’ll be successful.

“Events such as the one tomorrow in Port Augusta do provide an entry point for other participants to come into the field and make their contribution, and that’s a really important start.”

Advances in artificial intelligence will also be under discussion at the summit.

RDA Adelaide CEO Kelly-Anne Saffin said this was about having the right mindset to pursue opportunities and optimise land use, while highlighting the advancements already occurring through AI in the state’s RDAs.

Around 120 RDA committee members, staff and members of local government will attend the summit, which will be opened by Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Clare Scriven.

The RDSA Blueprint with the full Regional Investment Pipeline will be available from www.regionaldevelopmentsa.com.au on Thursday, 3 October 2024.

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