The Howard government and regional development

Article


Collits, Paul. 2008. "The Howard government and regional development." Australasian Journal of Regional Studies. 14 (3), pp. 287-312.
Article Title

The Howard government and regional development

ERA Journal ID18329
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorCollits, Paul
Journal TitleAustralasian Journal of Regional Studies
Journal Citation14 (3), pp. 287-312
Number of Pages26
Year2008
Place of PublicationWollongong, NSW Australia
ISSN1324-0935
Web Address (URL)http://www.anzrsai.org/system/files/f8/f4/f45/f50/o283//Collits.pdf
Abstract

The demise of the Howard Coalition Government in Australia in late 2007 and the coming to power of a new Labor Government provides a timely opportunity to consider the fate of regional development under Howard and its prospects under the current administration. Much of the focus of debates over regional policy under Howard has been on the highly controversial Regional Partnerships Program, which was said by many to have (further) politicised regional policy. There is a need for a much broader and more comprehensive analysis of the period in question. The paper seeks to provide – or at least to commence – such an analysis, and to uncover both the key policy trends and the
reasons for them. It argues that the principal development in regional policy was to further embed 'localism' as the preferred approach, and that this was broadly in line with
developments in the States and Territories and overseas. The Howard Government’s approach begs the questions whether this reliance on 'local solutions to local problems' is
the best way of doing regional policy, and what it means for regional development. The paper makes some tentative suggestions for better regional governance in the light of the experience of the Howard Government.

KeywordsAustralia; economic development; regional economics; economic trends; HowardD, John; city planning; urban renewal
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020380118. Urban and regional economics
440699. Human geography not elsewhere classified
440703. Economic development policy
Public Notes

Permanent restricted access to published version due to publsiher copyright policy.

This paper was presented at the 32nd ANZRSAI Conference held in Adelaide from 30 Nov–3 Dec 2008.

Byline AffiliationsAustralian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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