Regional Development Australia plans to think globally, act locally

The Murraylands’ regional development board will connect, evolve and look towards the future with its “strategic direction 2023-plus”.

Peri Strathearn

Nov 29, 2023 — 2 min read

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To help locals succeed in the present, you need to consider the future of the entire world.

That’s the philosophy which will guide the Murraylands’ regional development board into 2024 and beyond.

Regional Development Australia (RDA) Murraylands and Riverland gathered movers and shakers from across the region at Monarto last week as it launched its new “strategic direction 2023-plus”.

Woven into the document were the thoughts of about 550 local people who took part in conversations about making the region more resilient over the past year and a half; so too were lofty concepts like the United Nations’ sustainability development goals.

It riffed on themes RDA chief executive Ben Fee had emphasised in recent years: the “long-term transform space” and the idea of a circular economy where nothing is wasted.

It would mean:

Connecting businesses and communities; and jobseekers, training organisations and employers
Supporting changes which would make the region more resilient and sustainable
Aligning local actions with global priorities
Increase locals’ understanding of the way forward for the region

It would mean helping more businesses find value in things previously considered worthless, like Greenhill Energy with landfill or Woodlane Orchard with excess fruit.

Strategic direction 2023+3.2MB ∙ PDF fileDownload Download

Not everyone would agree that such ideas were the best way forward for the region, Mr Fee acknowledged at the launch event.

Expert advice from across the globe “may conflict with some views and be challenging”, as the plan put it.

But RDA was committed to listening to all points of view and finding the right way forward, Mr Fee said.

Grant Rigney, Tammy Shepherd and Rob Kerin, among others, speak at RDA's launch event. Photos: Peri Strathearn.

Chair Jodie Hawkes said RDA planned to spend more of its time scanning the horizon, planning for disruption that would inevitably come as the climate and technology changed.

Its focus on the future would become more and more important as today’s young people – who were passionate about the environment, social issues and good corporate governance – became leaders in industry and government.

The chair of Regional Development South Australia, former Premier Rob Kerin, said he was glad to see RDA Murraylands and Riverland’s new direction.

State Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Clare Scriven said it was about South Australians “placing ourselves at the centre of solving global problems”.