Fair Go for Our Regions: Why South Australia needs to back the bush

Nearly 400,000 South Australians making livings outside of Adelaide. Their contribution to our state punches well above their weight but too often they are overlooked. Here’s why our regions deserve a fair go.

• Our crumbling country roads take their toll
• Plea for focus on Far North’s dusty tracks

Regional SA has always and will always play an integral role in the overall cultural, economic and social wellbeing of our great state.

Economic experts estimate our rural and regional population of nearly 400,000 contributes $25 billion into our economy and about 25 per cent of our gross state product.

These are significant figures, but the real value of our regions goes well beyond dollars and cents.

From pristine beaches to magnificent mountains to small country pubs oozing with character, our rural and regional areas provide the cultural glue which binds South Australia together.

With that in mind, the Sunday Mail, The Advertiser and advertiser.com.au today launch the most comprehensive series on rural and regional South Australia attempted by a media organisation.

Head House Keeper Rose Broughton, 60, with tourist Lisa Brennan, 39, from Washington DC in the front bar at William Creek Hotel. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

We sent reporters and photographers to all corners to find out the issues which mattered most.

The results were conclusive. Four topics kept popping up - transport, population, health and drugs.

So we have have dedicated a week a month for the next four months for in-depth looks at each of those issues, beginning today with transport.

Sunday Mail Editor Andrew Holman, who spent a decade working in regional SA media, said: “Too often our provincial centres have suffered in terms of services and resources.

“Our regions underpin our way of life and contribute much to our social and economic fabric. Healthy regions mean a healthy SA.’’

The Advertiser editor Matt Deighton said the regions were often neglected.

“In the shadow of a federal election we are determined to ensure that doesn’t happen in SA and that the challenges facing our regions become front and centre of the political agenda,” he said. “It’s time for us all to champion our regions.”