The coming boom

What struck me afresh about the region was its great distance from the coast and especially the South East of Queensland, and its great distance from central government understanding of its needs. From a local perspective, Brisbane bureaucracies appear to have little understanding of local life in the outback. The region has a very small population base – around 3500 – and the delivery of adequate services is critical to the quality of life of residents, and indeed to economic development prospects. Many people feel that government just doesn't have a clue about how to deliver appropriate services to the people. Health is critical, especially with an ageing population, and the required services are just not there. What happens, though, is that the community steps in and here local government is hugely important in a community building sense.

Of course, the provision of services to remote communities with small populations is a difficult issue for government. The services needed by these communities are real but the demand for services is so thin.

What about mining? We found that residents feel they have very little information about what is coming, and those who are aware of the likely impacts of mining have a wide range of views. Some welcome it, thinking that it will deliver gold at the end of the rainbow (Gina will pay for a doctor), and a new reason for young people to stay in the region, while others only see negatives – bad behaviour by male FIFO workers, little in the way of kick-on economic benefits to local businesses, the loss of skills to local employers (including councils) as locals take off for the mines, and population loss as long term residents who object to mining or who can no longer afford to live there up and leave. For others, they believe the mines will have little impact on their towns, since the mines will be some distance away and workers' camps distant as well. Some people even doubt it will ever actually happen. The promise of mining riches has been there in the Galilee Basin for many years.

Resource regions like the Galilee Basin are potentially at a real crossroads as the mining sector comes to town, with all its various impacts on the lives of the locals. What is important, for host communities and for potential source communities of mine workers, is to do one's homework and weigh up carefully the pros and cons, so that they will be prepared for whatever is coming down the track.

The community planning process offers mining regions an opportunity for the residents to have a say, to gather more transparent and timely information about potential impacts and changes, and to develop strategies for ensuring they benefit from whatever happens with the mines. The idea of regional community foundations is one model worth considering for allowing considered, local decision making in relation to negotiating with the mining companies and with central governments. Such mechanisms can empower regions to develop better and more sustainable outcomes and improved economic benefits and liveability for residents.

Understanding the dynamics of regional development is critically important for resources companies, for governments at all levels, and for the affected communities themselves, if we as a nation are to get the kind of regional development we need from digging up what is under the ground. The importance of the resources sector to the national economy is well understood. The regional dimension, equally important for those who live in remote places, is not so well understood, and this needs to change.