WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.060 Ladies and gentlemen, could I interrupt your discussion and welcome you here this afternoon. 2 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:11.260 It's great to see so many people here. We were just speculating on how many we would get and 3 00:00:11.260 --> 00:00:16.480 my estimations are that we're probably about four-fifths, I think, and there's probably a 4 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:24.680 few late comers to come. Now, of course, you're here to listen to Janelle Ellison, so anyone that 5 00:00:24.680 --> 00:00:31.660 is not, please leave now if you're not in the right spot. You're probably wondering who I am. 6 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:40.100 I do that a lot myself, actually. But I'm Tim Jackson and I'm a local government CEO, 7 00:00:40.180 --> 00:00:46.980 so it's probably appropriate that I introduce today's speaker. I do actually come from a 8 00:00:46.980 --> 00:00:54.560 rural background. I grew up in a rural, in a dairy farming area in Victoria. My father was a vet, 9 00:00:55.240 --> 00:01:01.100 so I do have very much a rural background. But we're not here to talk about me, so I'll get on 10 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:10.040 with Janelle. I won't repeat what's in here. You've obviously read that and that's why you're here. 11 00:01:10.880 --> 00:01:14.980 But I will just correct a couple of things that are there. She's already changed jobs, 12 00:01:16.220 --> 00:01:21.200 so no longer does she work for the University of Queensland. She's now working for the University 13 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:24.660 of Tasmania and has, or is, a job. She's a former university student, so she's a former university 14 00:01:31.860 --> 00:01:38.460 postal 15 00:01:47.580 --> 00:01:49.320 It's called the Cradle Coast Authority, 16 00:01:49.520 --> 00:01:54.000 which is nine councils in northwest Tasmania 17 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.140 banded together to, in fact, work with the University of Tasmania. 18 00:01:58.360 --> 00:02:02.260 And the issues are really around trying to improve, 19 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:04.380 certainly, educational outcomes, 20 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.480 and obviously that translates into jobs. 21 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:09.100 So, you know, a challenge in northwest Queensland. 22 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:11.920 We're here to talk about... 23 00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:15.760 Well, Janelle's here to talk about reframing 24 00:02:16.420 --> 00:02:19.080 urban and regional relationships in Australia, 25 00:02:19.260 --> 00:02:20.260 potentials and possibilities. 26 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.320 And I find that a really fascinating subject. 27 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.100 If you look at Australia's history, 28 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:29.460 we really have, you know, gone from a rural-based economy 29 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:31.440 to an urban-based economy, 30 00:02:32.160 --> 00:02:37.260 and now we're seeing things like tree change and sea change 31 00:02:37.260 --> 00:02:39.040 and hopefully one day desert change. 32 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:41.900 So we really... 33 00:02:41.920 --> 00:02:43.740 We really are seeing vast fluctuations 34 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:48.340 in where people are choosing to reside in Australia. 35 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:51.640 So I think it is a really fascinating subject. 36 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:55.700 So Janelle will talk to you for about 20 or 25 minutes. 37 00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:57.940 She will wave her arms around, so don't be frightened. 38 00:02:58.080 --> 00:02:59.040 She just told me that. 39 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:01.320 She won't wander around, however. 40 00:03:01.480 --> 00:03:02.600 She will stay here. 41 00:03:03.700 --> 00:03:04.220 She... 42 00:03:04.220 --> 00:03:08.300 And then we'll set aside about 15 minutes for questions. 43 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:10.220 So it's about 45 minutes in total. 44 00:03:11.300 --> 00:03:11.820 Please... 45 00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:13.640 Please have questions ready. 46 00:03:14.420 --> 00:03:16.020 Otherwise, I'll have to think of a couple. 47 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:18.380 But I'm sure you're a great audience 48 00:03:18.380 --> 00:03:19.860 and you'll have lots and lots of questions 49 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:22.260 from what Janelle has to say. 50 00:03:22.380 --> 00:03:25.080 So having said all of that, probably my three minutes is up, 51 00:03:25.200 --> 00:03:26.420 it gives me a great deal of pleasure 52 00:03:26.420 --> 00:03:28.900 to call Janelle Allison to the podium. 53 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:29.400 Janelle. 54 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:31.140 APPLAUSE 55 00:03:36.620 --> 00:03:39.160 Thank you, and it's a great pleasure to be here. 56 00:03:39.260 --> 00:03:40.200 And it's quite true. 57 00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:41.420 I have moved. 58 00:03:41.420 --> 00:03:45.080 I moved to the northwest of Tasmania from southeast Queensland. 59 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:47.600 That was a big move the second week I got there. 60 00:03:48.160 --> 00:03:51.080 They tell me it was the coldest June on record. 61 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:54.380 And when you come from Queensland, that's a big shock. 62 00:03:55.160 --> 00:03:57.320 I took the job for a number of reasons. 63 00:03:57.760 --> 00:04:01.720 Lifestyle was very much a part of that, and I bought a bit of dirt because I figure 64 00:04:01.720 --> 00:04:04.420 that I want to do more than just talk about this stuff. 65 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:05.980 I'd actually like to do it. 66 00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:10.060 But I'm also deeply concerned about some of those regional issues. 67 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:14.560 That northwest area of Tasmania is highly productive. 68 00:04:14.820 --> 00:04:18.360 It's a significant agricultural region. 69 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:21.940 You may not realize it, but 96% of all the peas grown 70 00:04:21.940 --> 00:04:25.160 in Australia actually come from northwest Tasmania. 71 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:31.100 But it has some really troubling features in terms of uptake 72 00:04:31.100 --> 00:04:34.420 into tertiary education, unemployment levels. 73 00:04:35.900 --> 00:04:38.640 And so drawing on the work that I've done in the past, 74 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:40.040 I'm really interested in the future. 75 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.200 I'm really interested to look at this integration 76 00:04:42.200 --> 00:04:46.120 between regional development, what I call practice change, 77 00:04:46.340 --> 00:04:49.660 which is applied research, R&D, and training. 78 00:04:49.960 --> 00:04:52.980 And I'm very interested in institutes. 79 00:04:53.580 --> 00:04:56.480 Previously the Center for Rural and Regional Innovation, 80 00:04:56.940 --> 00:04:59.920 which I came from, was about that kind of work. 81 00:05:00.700 --> 00:05:05.420 And using some of the trends and changes occurring to perhaps not only work 82 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:09.360 in regional Australia, but reframe, rebuild what some 83 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:10.020 of the relationships are. 84 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:10.340 And I think it's really important to look at what the relationships 85 00:05:10.340 --> 00:05:14.500 between what rural and urban Australia might be like. 86 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:19.960 So I'll start with some what ifs. 87 00:05:20.960 --> 00:05:24.320 What if some regions in the bush were the water managers 88 00:05:24.320 --> 00:05:25.200 for the state? 89 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:27.220 How might this be viable? 90 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:32.200 What if some regions in Queensland, Tasmania were the new 91 00:05:32.200 --> 00:05:35.860 energy regions driving investment in smart renewables 92 00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:38.920 and multiple energy choices? 93 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.220 What if regions collaborated to create regional food 94 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:46.700 and fiber experiences for the southern hemisphere focused 95 00:05:46.700 --> 00:05:49.160 on temperate, tropical, and arid foods? 96 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.060 What if your region was the cultural nexus like the third Italy 97 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:55.880 or Santa Fe in New Mexico? 98 00:05:57.220 --> 00:06:00.880 What if you thought about your region as the rich resource 99 00:06:00.880 --> 00:06:04.240 for chemical feedstocks and microbiology? 100 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:08.620 What if your region produced the new niche materials 101 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:10.020 through innovative research? 102 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:10.140 What if your region produced the new technology 103 00:06:10.140 --> 00:06:11.800 for green bioprocessing? 104 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:14.940 What have you thought about your region 105 00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:19.480 as a sucrose landscape instead of a sugar landscape? 106 00:06:20.820 --> 00:06:24.320 And what if your region better understood its regional assets 107 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.980 and leveraged its social capital and cultural capital 108 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:29.860 for innovation? 109 00:06:31.820 --> 00:06:34.160 If your immediate response is like that 110 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:37.180 of Michael Caton's character in the film The Castle, 111 00:06:37.340 --> 00:06:40.020 Tell Him He's Dreamin', then I suggest that you should look 112 00:06:40.020 --> 00:06:41.080 at the world of the world of the world. 113 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:44.180 It's not really a question of what if. 114 00:06:44.340 --> 00:06:46.600 All these scenarios are possible. 115 00:06:46.900 --> 00:06:50.560 Rather it's a question of how and why we would do this. 116 00:06:51.780 --> 00:06:54.620 Why do I feel it's important to explore these ideas? 117 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:56.880 I think there are two good reasons. 118 00:06:57.520 --> 00:07:01.240 First, it highlights the possibilities and potential 119 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:04.960 for creative thinking about possible futures in rural 120 00:07:04.960 --> 00:07:06.280 and regional Australia. 121 00:07:07.440 --> 00:07:09.620 And second, it gives us some inkling, 122 00:07:09.620 --> 00:07:13.300 some clues as to just how a highly urbanised, 123 00:07:13.380 --> 00:07:18.180 metropolitan, coastal hugging population perceived now 124 00:07:18.180 --> 00:07:23.160 to be somewhat disconnected from rural Australia might 125 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:26.220 in fact reconnect to the rural interior. 126 00:07:27.380 --> 00:07:30.400 Because while I don't expect urban people to necessarily 127 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:34.100 to wish to live and work in rural Australia, 128 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:36.780 I am concerned by the disconnect. 129 00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:39.600 It seems somehow to me that the disconnect 130 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:40.660 is the only way to make us incomplete. 131 00:07:41.940 --> 00:07:45.500 So I'd like to explore the what ifs more carefully. 132 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:49.540 I want to argue that in the last little while, 133 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:52.180 there have been three significant trends 134 00:07:53.020 --> 00:07:56.580 which not only offer opportunities for renewed confidence 135 00:07:56.580 --> 00:08:02.280 in rural and regional Australia by them and for them and with them, 136 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:06.700 but also provides a range of opportunities for re-engagement 137 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:08.740 of the urban and the rural. 138 00:08:08.940 --> 00:08:09.600 Thank you. 139 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.680 This potential in my view coalesces around three themes. 140 00:08:14.440 --> 00:08:18.600 Transforming agricultural landscapes, smart resource 141 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:23.160 and energy use and production, and the business of NRM, 142 00:08:23.280 --> 00:08:25.120 natural resources management. 143 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:29.220 So let's look first at transforming agricultural landscapes. 144 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:33.660 Our view of agriculture can be old and stereotypical. 145 00:08:34.280 --> 00:08:36.800 Agricultural landscapes are transforming. 146 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:39.500 They are no longer just that. 147 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.540 They are a popularly held view of broadacre plantation, 148 00:08:43.040 --> 00:08:44.800 cropping, pasture or grazing. 149 00:08:46.140 --> 00:08:49.800 Take for example the table grape growers around St. George 150 00:08:49.800 --> 00:08:51.080 in Western Queensland. 151 00:08:52.140 --> 00:08:56.000 As you would expect, there are rows upon rows of grape vines. 152 00:08:56.780 --> 00:08:58.560 But expect the unexpected. 153 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:02.580 There are wind turbines, sleek, sophisticated structures, 154 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.980 scattered across the landscapes to prevent frost bite. 155 00:09:07.400 --> 00:09:09.580 And along with that, a large number of 156 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:12.760 large set of tubs that produce biological tea, 157 00:09:13.880 --> 00:09:17.280 which they're now demonstrating improves the soil biota 158 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:19.520 and the quality of the fruit. 159 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:23.220 Then there are the state of the art cold rooms. 160 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:28.680 High technology that ensures that the fruit is kept extremely well 161 00:09:28.680 --> 00:09:33.760 to the best quality and that these products within 48 hours can be 162 00:09:33.760 --> 00:09:38.020 in the wet markets of Jakarta, Singapore and Hong Kong. 163 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:39.560 And if I take a look at the 164 00:09:39.560 --> 00:09:55.040 landscape of the South Island, I can see that the 165 00:09:43.560 --> 00:09:43.800 ! 166 00:10:09.560 --> 00:10:13.620 The opportunities in rural landscapes are greater than just reframing 167 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:18.280 agricultural products as green chemistry and bioprocessing. 168 00:10:18.300 --> 00:10:19.640 But more of that in a moment. 169 00:10:20.260 --> 00:10:24.040 Rural landscapes are now being transformed by technology. 170 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:27.000 The table grape growers are one example. 171 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:30.340 With cot seedlings, a firm around Toowoomba, 172 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:35.080 or solar pumps engineering around Roma in Western Queensland. 173 00:10:35.420 --> 00:10:37.960 And I'm sorry, I have lots of Queensland examples. 174 00:10:38.420 --> 00:10:39.540 Are other examples. 175 00:10:39.540 --> 00:10:39.840 I'm sorry, I have lots of Queensland examples. 176 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.780 Where the combinations of new technology, changing farming practices, 177 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:50.380 water management have resulted in new business, new kinds of jobs, new software, 178 00:10:50.680 --> 00:10:53.720 new understanding as to the potential of technology. 179 00:10:54.540 --> 00:11:00.840 GIS, GPS are integral now to landscapes in rural Australia. 180 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:07.180 These kinds of technologies require new skills and different kinds of servicing. 181 00:11:07.380 --> 00:11:08.760 And this has implications 182 00:11:08.760 --> 00:11:11.660 for our service centres as service hubs. 183 00:11:12.760 --> 00:11:16.860 Rural landscapes are also all along the value chain. 184 00:11:17.300 --> 00:11:20.360 Agriculture no longer stops at the farm gate. 185 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:22.700 Now we talk of the value chain. 186 00:11:23.420 --> 00:11:28.580 Agribusiness value chains shift the mindset beyond the paddock gate to a string 187 00:11:28.580 --> 00:11:32.040 of interconnected activities that end with the consumer. 188 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:37.660 But remembering the consumer may be in Woolworths, restaurants, or again 189 00:11:37.660 --> 00:11:38.740 in those wet markets. 190 00:11:38.740 --> 00:11:41.720 In Hong Kong, Singapore, or any other place. 191 00:11:42.940 --> 00:11:47.040 Along with the things to be considered could be harvesting, packaging, processing, 192 00:11:47.420 --> 00:11:52.880 marketing, contracts, distribution, labelling, graphic design, and so on. 193 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:59.000 These interconnections are important and the networks are generated all along the value chain. 194 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:05.300 And they can be vigorous, active, and crucial elements for vibrant rural communities. 195 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:08.720 Also, they offer fantastic services. 196 00:12:11.700 --> 00:12:33.880 postal 197 00:12:33.880 --> 00:12:36.800 that is that zone between the rural and the urban, 198 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:41.020 what if we shifted the view of hobby farmers 199 00:12:41.020 --> 00:12:45.540 away from the current kind of picture that we have of it 200 00:12:46.640 --> 00:12:49.820 and recognised the new skills and approaches 201 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:52.760 that these people, these lifestyle changes, 202 00:12:53.040 --> 00:12:58.620 are bringing to, for example, an emerging artisan food production. 203 00:12:59.760 --> 00:13:02.880 Take, for example, the story of Martha Shepherd. 204 00:13:02.880 --> 00:13:04.620 She grows lily pillies. 205 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:08.680 She was also the Rural Businesswoman of the Year in 2006. 206 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:13.560 No-one told Martha that you couldn't make a business out of lily pillies, 207 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.800 which she trademarks as rain cherries and rain berries, 208 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:19.420 and no-one certainly ever told her 209 00:13:19.420 --> 00:13:21.800 that you weren't supposed to do it on 11 acres. 210 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:28.280 Furthermore, lifestyle change, eating out, gourmet experiences 211 00:13:28.280 --> 00:13:31.020 bring urban populations into the bush. 212 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:32.860 These agri-tourism, 213 00:13:32.880 --> 00:13:34.560 if you like to call them that, 214 00:13:34.660 --> 00:13:38.120 are looking for difference, quality, taste, flavours, 215 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:41.300 and they want the stories behind the food. 216 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:43.500 And the products are there. 217 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:46.520 Innovative producers, clean and green, 218 00:13:47.140 --> 00:13:49.300 well-managed land and water, 219 00:13:50.520 --> 00:13:56.460 producing cheeses, figs, desert limes, oysters, saffron, pasta, olives, 220 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.460 you name it and I'll bet a lot of you have tasted it. 221 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.860 Farmers' markets, food trails, regional farms, 222 00:14:02.880 --> 00:14:06.080 wine and food festivals, opera in the vineyards, 223 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.060 are all part of the emerging face of a growing interest 224 00:14:10.060 --> 00:14:13.780 in agri-tourism, agri-food experiences, 225 00:14:14.220 --> 00:14:17.180 agri-food systems in Australia. 226 00:14:17.680 --> 00:14:22.860 What if we developed a food culture around some of these activities? 227 00:14:24.260 --> 00:14:25.540 But as I mentioned earlier, 228 00:14:25.760 --> 00:14:28.440 rural landscapes are beyond food production. 229 00:14:28.940 --> 00:14:31.980 All food and fibre consists of chemicals, 230 00:14:32.980 --> 00:14:38.540 and the feedstocks and opportunities for bioprocessing and microbiology 231 00:14:38.540 --> 00:14:41.160 are in the bush in rural Australia. 232 00:14:42.160 --> 00:14:46.120 Yet there are a host of perceptions about chemicals which make us cautious. 233 00:14:46.380 --> 00:14:50.360 Out of this has emerged a growing interest in green chemistry. 234 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:53.740 Are there opportunities for rural Australia 235 00:14:53.740 --> 00:14:56.540 to take a leadership in the role of green chemistry? 236 00:14:56.740 --> 00:15:02.080 Is this a potential link with the biotechnology focus of the metropolitan areas? 237 00:15:03.060 --> 00:15:05.540 Firms like DuPont are interested. 238 00:15:06.280 --> 00:15:10.720 DuPont has a stated mission that within the next two decades 239 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:14.940 it will shift from hydrocarbon-based materials production 240 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:17.960 to carbohydrate-based materials. 241 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:21.820 What this means for the landscape, we're not quite sure, 242 00:15:22.100 --> 00:15:25.200 but it is, pardon the pun, food for thought. 243 00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:31.460 And young people, researchers, business, are interested in having access 244 00:15:31.460 --> 00:15:32.860 to these kinds of products. 245 00:15:33.760 --> 00:15:33.800 postal 246 00:15:51.560 --> 00:16:02.460 We are currently experiencing an extraordinary resources boom and there's a huge debate to be had of course about the nature of these export earnings. 247 00:16:02.920 --> 00:16:05.480 But what if we thought about it a little differently? 248 00:16:06.640 --> 00:16:12.620 These rural landscapes offer opportunities for these speculative ventures, that's true. 249 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:17.640 But I'm really interested in the speculative skills if you like. 250 00:16:17.640 --> 00:16:28.640 Can we incorporate the risk taking that these kinds of companies undertake when they do their checking out of the landscape etc. 251 00:16:28.900 --> 00:16:38.740 and speculate about how these kinds of skills could be incorporated into rural enterprise development and new forms of community business. 252 00:16:39.180 --> 00:16:46.600 For example in some work that I did with the Southern Gulf Catchment Authority which is that area that runs north of Mount Isa 253 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:47.620 they verified... 254 00:16:47.640 --> 00:16:52.660 adopted a company structure in the catchment authority itself because it 255 00:16:52.660 --> 00:16:57.840 felt that they could better leverage its relationships with the local big 256 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:04.120 employers like Mount Isa mines. But there are other trends associated with 257 00:17:04.120 --> 00:17:09.280 this resource and energy boom if you like and one relates to the notion of 258 00:17:09.280 --> 00:17:14.560 triple bottom line. Communities and local governments alert to these requirements 259 00:17:14.560 --> 00:17:19.440 of resource and energy companies have opportunities to better leverage and 260 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:23.660 integrate these development contributions into sustainable 261 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:28.960 activities that make a tangible contribution for the long term as 262 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:35.640 opposed to short term fixes. Some of the new and interesting possibilities might 263 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:40.800 be when you're looking at the development contribution could be why 264 00:17:40.800 --> 00:17:43.240 don't they draw on local training providers. 265 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:46.600 Why don't they draw from local supply chains? 266 00:17:47.180 --> 00:17:50.800 Why don't they make the training for sustainability 267 00:17:50.800 --> 00:17:54.940 integrated into what is local and close to hand? 268 00:17:55.320 --> 00:17:58.260 And good examples are to be seen in some of the work 269 00:17:58.260 --> 00:18:00.960 that the Desert Knowledge CRC is now doing. 270 00:18:01.360 --> 00:18:03.980 Why don't they establish learning centres 271 00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:08.360 comprising library, recreation and new digital and electronic resources? 272 00:18:08.760 --> 00:18:11.900 Why don't they contribute more to community centres 273 00:18:11.900 --> 00:18:15.100 and to learning festivals which integrate the learning 274 00:18:15.100 --> 00:18:17.380 that's required for long-term sustainability? 275 00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:21.920 And another opportunity is the smart renewables. 276 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:26.280 We hear this term, Tim Flannery refers to it, 277 00:18:26.300 --> 00:18:27.880 as the new energy economy. 278 00:18:28.620 --> 00:18:31.440 Resource and energy companies are diversifying 279 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:36.340 and value-adding their businesses with new investment in smart renewables. 280 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:41.880 Alongside the larger companies are a range of smaller energy firms 281 00:18:41.900 --> 00:18:46.180 offering what might be called boutique-style investment opportunities. 282 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:51.980 While the coal-based fossil fuels certainly continue to dominate in Queensland, 283 00:18:52.300 --> 00:18:57.160 nevertheless, here is an example of where geography of the landscape 284 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:02.120 and the bush may well be a testing ground for energy trading by regions, 285 00:19:02.460 --> 00:19:06.440 smaller energy companies and businesses supplying regional needs 286 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:08.340 and selling then into the grid, 287 00:19:08.540 --> 00:19:11.880 companies and regions offering a range of one-way, 288 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.460 one-stop-shop energy choices for consumers 289 00:19:14.460 --> 00:19:16.840 to mix and match their energy options. 290 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:21.200 And finally, then, we turn to the business, 291 00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:25.760 the third trend, the business of natural resources management, NRM. 292 00:19:26.560 --> 00:19:31.780 In the last five years, 56-odd regions in Australia 293 00:19:31.780 --> 00:19:36.040 have undertaken responsibility for natural resources management. 294 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:39.860 In an approach unparalleled in the world, 295 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:41.800 communities and regional groups 296 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:44.040 have been charged with the responsibility 297 00:19:44.040 --> 00:19:48.760 of developing regional NRM plans and investment strategies. 298 00:19:49.120 --> 00:19:52.600 Whether you like these plans or dislike these plans, 299 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:54.940 that achievement is extraordinary. 300 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:59.880 Nowhere else in the world has a whole continent, if you like, 301 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:01.880 been covered with NRM plans, 302 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:05.760 which for the most part have been built from the ground up. 303 00:20:06.280 --> 00:20:07.480 Grassroots involvement. 304 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:11.160 Now, we may have criticisms about the consultation process 305 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:14.580 and how it was done, but nevertheless, it's a start. 306 00:20:15.120 --> 00:20:19.820 After obtaining accreditation for their plans, 307 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.060 these regional bodies will now implement the plans and strategies 308 00:20:24.060 --> 00:20:27.580 and invest considerable millions of dollars 309 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.620 in practice change and on-ground works. 310 00:20:31.120 --> 00:20:35.120 These developments open up all sorts of possibilities 311 00:20:35.120 --> 00:20:37.420 for rural and regional communities. 312 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:41.140 For example, regional NRM plans 313 00:20:41.140 --> 00:20:43.080 have mobilised communities. 314 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:49.160 These new suite of NRM activities generate and or demand 315 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:53.420 important additional resources, know-how and skills 316 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:56.380 for developing vibrant rural communities. 317 00:20:57.020 --> 00:21:00.820 The additional resources are significant and include 318 00:21:00.820 --> 00:21:05.440 a platform of community participation without parallel, 319 00:21:05.580 --> 00:21:07.960 a uniquely Australian contribution 320 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.200 to the global sustainability toolkit. 321 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:13.880 The injection of millions of dollars in infrastructure 322 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:18.080 and on-ground works to improve condition of land and water resources. 323 00:21:18.520 --> 00:21:20.960 The investment in capacity building 324 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:23.560 and new ways of learning for practice change. 325 00:21:24.020 --> 00:21:28.140 New and different NRM professional skills and capabilities 326 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:30.260 to be developed within regions. 327 00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:35.280 New kinds of creative partnerships between regional NRM bodies, 328 00:21:35.520 --> 00:21:38.460 industry organisations and volunteer groups. 329 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:39.980 And finally, 330 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:44.680 the mobilisation of volunteer labour and group-based activities 331 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:46.540 such as around land care. 332 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:50.600 All of these outcomes from the business of NRM 333 00:21:50.600 --> 00:21:55.380 have generated new forms of human, social and environmental capital 334 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:57.380 across these regions. 335 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:01.260 There's very interesting work to suggest now 336 00:22:01.260 --> 00:22:05.720 that it is this kind of capital, human and social capital, 337 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:08.080 that best drives innovation. 338 00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:13.080 Despite all the hype and talk about high-tech innovation, 339 00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:18.260 these medium to low-tech areas with this burst of social capital 340 00:22:18.260 --> 00:22:20.840 in behind it can be highly innovative. 341 00:22:22.100 --> 00:22:23.940 At the scale of community, 342 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:28.440 the diversity of skills and capabilities across a broad range of areas 343 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:33.500 is important in assisting communities to adapt and manage change. 344 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:36.180 But wait, there's more. 345 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.060 The business of NRM, 346 00:22:38.060 --> 00:22:42.880 NRM affords the opportunity to go well beyond the green bag. 347 00:22:43.560 --> 00:22:46.480 The primary focus of the NRM agenda 348 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:50.420 has involved to a large extent land managers 349 00:22:51.060 --> 00:22:54.560 and in very important and necessary practice change 350 00:22:54.560 --> 00:22:57.300 to improve the condition of land and water resources. 351 00:22:57.800 --> 00:23:02.620 However, the remit for NRM has involved the wider community 352 00:23:02.620 --> 00:23:05.540 and engagement in sustainability issues 353 00:23:05.540 --> 00:23:08.400 and therefore a groundswell of interest 354 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:12.040 which will embrace both urban and rural communities. 355 00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:17.460 For example, there's a sizeable component of the population 356 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:21.540 who now purchases, uses regularly the green bag. 357 00:23:21.860 --> 00:23:25.140 My 82-year-old mother has one and my 20... 358 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:29.740 has several and my 25-year-old daughter uses them all the time. 359 00:23:30.080 --> 00:23:32.840 A momentum of interest in sustainability 360 00:23:33.540 --> 00:23:35.360 which the bush largely 361 00:23:35.540 --> 00:23:37.980 responsible for NRM could harness. 362 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:43.280 What about the question of what we put in the green bag? 363 00:23:43.860 --> 00:23:48.200 There's a whole lot more of what might be termed catchment capital 364 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:51.740 which could be a key ingredient for new and creative 365 00:23:51.740 --> 00:23:54.820 and speculative possibilities in the bush 366 00:23:54.820 --> 00:23:58.620 but would also link us firmly to the urban populations 367 00:23:58.620 --> 00:24:01.860 who are extremely keen to use those green bags. 368 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:05.480 Finally, alongside investment 369 00:24:05.540 --> 00:24:06.520 and environmental concerns, 370 00:24:06.760 --> 00:24:09.700 changing perceptions about Indigenous culture 371 00:24:09.700 --> 00:24:13.060 and the spiritual value of Australian natural landscapes 372 00:24:13.060 --> 00:24:17.480 have generated a keen interest in both the actual landscapes 373 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:21.520 and the artistic, dramatic and musical representations 374 00:24:22.540 --> 00:24:23.940 evoked by these landscapes. 375 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:29.100 Finally, if you like, we are re-engaging with those landscapes 376 00:24:29.100 --> 00:24:34.320 and the NRM, water, climate change issues, if you like, 377 00:24:34.320 --> 00:24:39.440 have brought us to and back to those rural landscapes in Australia. 378 00:24:39.860 --> 00:24:44.380 They offer, in my view, an opportunity for us to reconnect 379 00:24:45.320 --> 00:24:49.760 in ways that perhaps have disappeared over the last decade or so. 380 00:24:49.900 --> 00:24:50.820 Thank you. 381 00:24:59.320 --> 00:25:01.120 She's done well. She's right on time. 382 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:02.640 And the arms... 383 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:03.620 I didn't really think... 384 00:25:03.620 --> 00:25:04.560 No, no, you were... 385 00:25:05.540 --> 00:25:06.020 OK. 386 00:25:07.140 --> 00:25:10.280 Very, very stimulating comments. 387 00:25:10.740 --> 00:25:12.880 I'm sure you've got stimulating questions. 388 00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:14.480 Who's going to be first? 389 00:25:15.080 --> 00:25:17.180 And if you'd like, you can identify who you are. 390 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:20.660 If you wish to remain anonymous, that's your right as well. 391 00:25:20.760 --> 00:25:22.240 So, yes, over here. 392 00:25:22.620 --> 00:25:23.380 Thank you. 393 00:25:25.020 --> 00:25:28.440 I would like to know if you can explain 394 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:31.800 how Australia has allowed Germany 395 00:25:31.800 --> 00:25:37.520 to produce just over 100 times more green energy than we do. 396 00:25:37.800 --> 00:25:39.960 And I don't want to blame the politicians 397 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:44.440 because the politicians respond to what the constituents want. 398 00:25:45.320 --> 00:25:47.760 So, could you explain that to us? 399 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:52.320 Well, I mean, I'm sure I don't have the answer, 400 00:25:52.540 --> 00:25:59.900 but one response I would make is that the demand from the consumer, 401 00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:02.560