Liberal candidate for Mount Gambier Ben Hood has identified growing the population of the region as one of his priorities in the lead up to the State Election.

Mr Hood believes we must look to solve the “city state” issue that exists in South Australia to ensure a broader and stronger focus on our regions as economic drivers of the state and wants to see the population grow by 30,000 in the next 15 years.

“Adelaide is our largest city at 1.3 million people with Mount Gambier our second largest at 29,000. We do not see this gap anywhere else in country in terms of population spread of the two biggest

population centres of a state or territory,” Mr Hood said.

Mr Hood said while Mount Gambier was a 29,000 sized region on paper, the city was regularly servicing a population in excess of 70,000 across retail, health and other services.

“This must be taken into account when the region advocates for increased services and infrastructure investment,” he said.

“Hobart has a population of 240,000 with their second biggest city being Launceston at around 80,000.”

“Mount Gambier needs to be the next Launceston and my goal is to see the population grow by 30,000 in the next 15 years.

“When we have this large gap between city and region it is no wonder the focus will always be skewed towards the city in terms of infrastructure spend.”

Mr Hood said with investments like Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre, the Rail Lands and the city’s library, Mount Gambier and the surrounding regions were becoming an attractive option for people looking for a tree change.

“But the region will not sustain a population increase of 30,000 people unless services, infrastructure and industry are equipped to keep up,” he said.

“We have not had a strong voice advocating for our region from within government for a long time.

“If we want real outcomes we need Mount Gambier to be a seat of government and have a Member of Parliament who can fight for our region from inside the government party room to ensure we get the services and infrastructure spend the second largest city in South Australia deserves.”

Mr Hood praised the Marshall Liberal Government’s investment in Mount Gambier with $18m in the last two years with upgrades to Mount Gambier and Grant High schools and Reidy Park Primary along with a $10m investment into Wulanda.

“If I have the privilege of being the Member for Mount Gambier my strong advocacy will continue to grow the investment across industry, health and education,” he said.

Mr Hood pointed to the South Australian Regional Workforce Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) that has been designed to address skills shortages across the entire state of South Australia as a great vehicle to attract skilled people to the region but wants to see the occupations that fall under this agreement to be expanded.

“Currently the DAMA occupations for regional South Australia have a focus on our vital primary industries sectors which is a sensible way to utilise this agreement and I welcome the federal government expanding the occupations in hospitality and tourism, motor trades and some forestry occupations,” he said.

“The scheme needs to also encourage digital industries which that have shown through COVID can have the ability to work anywhere.

“Right now in South Australia, computer science graduates can command up to $220,000 entry level salaries.

“The demand is huge for these skills and encouraging these industries and professionals to the regions means population growth for us and more people for the state.”

Mr Hood said with GigCity high speed connection arriving in Mount Gambier, the region was poised to attract digital professionals and industry to relocate here to enjoy lifestyle while delivering high tech solutions for the world.

“As a digital professional myself, I am very pleased that my advocacy to the Marshall Liberal Government has seen GigCity brought to Mount Gambier,” he said.

“It will ensure that our region continues its transformation to a modern economy and importantly, that our young people will have every opportunity for rewarding careers right here in Mount Gambier.”

Mr Hood also praised the Government in turning around the state’s net migration loss in only two years.

“There is no point shuffling around people from within South Australia from city to region and back again,” he said.

“We do not want to play musical chairs with population, the Marshall Liberal government has arrested the brain drain away from the state and now we have to continue to bring in skilled people in from outside our state to grow in any meaningful way.

“Ensuring adequate housing stock is also going to be an issue that will need to be tackled.

“With our CBD moving to the east and people looking to be closer to their eateries, coffee shops and retail it is a perfect opportunity for the city council to look to review the CBD zone planning rules to allow for commercial premise to be converted into residential builds, such as 2-3 storey townhouses and apartments.

“This not only ensures a continued vibrant CBD but solves the empty shop issue that has plagued regional centres like ours in the past.

“It is vital that we also ensure we have housing options across the economic spectrum from affordable housing to those wanting to buy in to the market for the first time, and mid to high end properties to entice young business and health care professionals and families to relocate to Mount Gambier.

“None of these things are easy but that should never stop us from working hard to accomplish them.”

Mr Hood said he wanted to see more work done in housing through encouraging new partnerships and investment with further development of innovative financing, planning and supply solutions including Build to Rent and more HomeStart Finance loans targeted at low and moderate income households.

“We have a huge opportunity in this current climate to set the right conditions for population growth here in Mount Gambier, we just need to be willing to take up the challenge,” he said.

The Liberal candidate has long championed the region’s primary industries as economic powerhouses for the State and further investment into forestry, meat and dairy and food production sectors will ensure more jobs for the future.

“As a state we must seriously investigate new industry for our regions.

“There are tremendous opportunities in waste, energy and circular economy industries,” he said.