Access to fast broadband, public transport, inadequate local branding and Sydney-based decision makers are holding back jobs growth in the northern rivers area.
Those were some of the issues raised at a Jobs Summit held in Ballina last week, organized by Greens MP Tamara Smith.
Around 60 local business owners, industry and government representatives, jobs service providers and educators participated in the summit, which aimed to address the question of driving sustainable jobs growth within the Ballina electorate.
‘The summit was a great success and the overwhelming feedback was that it was an important thing to do and people came away with a shared understanding of where the priorities for growing sustainable jobs lie,’ Ms Smith said.
‘The summit identified a number of major road blocks to local job creation including access to fast broadband, public transport, the lack of a regional brand to highlight the region to the country and world and a general lack of understanding by decision makers in Sydney about the issues on-the-ground in regional areas.
‘The meeting has asked me to take up these issues with the government and that was the point of the summit.
‘It is a task list for me and I know when I advocate for these things in the Parliament that I do so with the backing of the local community and in support of sustainable jobs.’
