Submission
Rural, remote and regional Australian people make up almost 30 percent of the Australian population. They have considerable economic impact which the remainder of Australia enjoys:
- Figures from the Reserve Bank indicate that industries including agriculture, fisheries and forestry account for 80 percent of Australia’s exports. These predominantly non-urban industries represent a large proportion of Australia’s economic output, while representing just 30 percent of the population.
- Farmers produce about $60 billion worth of goods each year. The agriculture supply chain supports 1.6 million jobs. More than 99 percent of Australia’s agricultural businesses are wholly Australian owned, the majority are family owned and operated.
- The overwhelming majority of food sold in Australia is grown and supplied by Australian farmers. We are able to export more than half of our agricultural produce, while more than 90 percent of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, milk and eggs sold in supermarkets are domestically produced.
- Nearly half of the nation’s tourism expenditure (46 percent or $107 billion) occurs in regional Australia. Regional tourism directly employs over half a million people (534,000) in tourism related industries.
I raise these economic points because rural Australia keeps the rest of the country going, has kept Australia out of two financial crises and the economic impact of Covid-19, and yet, people living in these locations do not have access to equitable healthcare compared to their urban counterparts. do. This in part is related to a healthcare and health/medical education system, programs and financial allocation which are no longer fit for purpose for rural Australia, indeed require an equitable reset.