Eastern Seaboard Collaboration
Our Position
Greater collaboration between cities and regions along Australia’s eastern seaboard will boost our economic productivity and enable us to better-compete in international markets.
Rather than compete for investment, talent, and resources, Australia’s capital cities along the eastern seaboard, and the regions in between, should be working together to help boost our domestic and international competitiveness.
Greater collaboration could lead to the formation of an Australian East Coast Megaregion, which would be characterised by an interconnected network of metropolitan and regional centres. Such a region would not only boost Australia’s competitiveness, it would help address some current and emerging issues, including our congested cities, housing affordability, regional activation, job creation and economic growth, as well as the need to maintain our standard of living.
Related Downloads
Reimagining Australia’s South-East Report
AN AUSTRALIAN EASTERN SEABOARD MEGAREGION – AN ESSENTIAL STEP ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
The Reimagining Australia’s South-East report, commissioned from SGS Economics and Planning details the extensive economic and social benefit that could be achieved if an Eastern Seaboard Megaregion were established from Geelong to the Sunshine Coast.
“SGS Economics estimates that Australia’s pre-COVID-19 economy could have benefitted significantly from a cooperative approach across the south-east, adding an estimated $268 billion to the economy over 30 years if even only a conservative 1% improvement was achieved over that time period,” said Martine Letts, CEO, Committee for Melbourne.
The report highlights that there is a plethora of activities that could be focused on to achieve a mega region, and these comprise small and relatively simple undertakings, to large-scale investments and initiatives. They include:
- Combined tourism/investment attraction campaign;
- An integrated and more efficient transportation network (e.g. faster-speed rail, freight, rail gauges, alignment of transport ticketing systems);
- Technology and data share;
- Combining specific state government resources;
- Alignment of red tape, including business laws and regulations;
- Alignment of skills and education systems, and
- Possible creation of new cities as links between the larger cities