My letter to the Premier of South Australia.

It was 12 months ago that I wrote the following letter to our new Premier Jay Weatherill in response to his pledge in the media that the South Australian Government would 'reconnect' with the regions.

As Gary Simon, a local businessman and friend from the Mid North, heads-off to Adelaide to give evidence in the Select Committee investigation into regional School Bus Contracts going to a Victorian company; and as the developing situation regarding Country Health SA continues to escalate; I thought it was timely to pull out my old letter and reflect on whether (or not) things have improved for those of us that live and do business in the regions.

Have a read of my letter and let me know what you think about the current situation in regional South Australia - or regional Australia in general.

I would love to hear from people.

Regional Rights

New Premier, Jay Weatherill, is to be commended on his pledge to bring a new focus on regional issues and rid the Government of its city-centric image (Advertiser Monday 5 December 2011).

For too long the Labour State Government has made no attempt to understand the core value and belief systems that drive peoples’ behaviour in our small communities.  This is exampled in a (seemingly) never-ending list of tribulations over the years about such topics as hospitals, ‘centralisation’ of key services, school amalgamations, school bus contracts, increased driving age, speed limits, dangerous quality of roads and the withdrawal of appropriate funding levels to our essential services such as those that save lives and support the development of our main industries such as PIRSA.

The resilience and patience of regional, rural and remote South Australians has been pushed to the limit.  Anxiety is at an unhealthy level. 

Our communities have a strong sense of connection with where they live; because we believe that we are the current custodians of our towns, communities, services and businesses that were passed down to us by previous generations; and that must be passed on to future generations in better condition than when we received them.  That is how small communities build and grow – we add our positive contribution and pass it on.  This process is reliant upon us and it is what we are here for.  It is a privilege to have a positive impact on the future.

However, city-centric Governments have for too long reached into our communities from afar and made decisions that have put the current custodians in danger of having to pass on to future generations communities that are in a worse condition than when they received them. 

Mr Weatherill states that "our regional communities are enormously valuable .... and I want to make sure that their voices are heard by this Government" and that "it is important to understand local issues".

This news will be welcomed by regional communities. 

Mr Weatherill, we accept your challenge to change the attitudes of this current Government toward regional communities and look forward to working with you as you "reconnect with the regions".

Jeremy Lomman

www.thesosgroup.com.au

Balaklava