Business highlights potential of regions

The Business Council of Australia says its recent tour of the nation's regions showed they were brimming with potential but needed investment to unleash the capacity.

Chief executive Jennifer Westacott hopes that message gets through to Australia's leaders, who are meeting in the far north Queensland city of Cairns on Friday - the first time such a gathering has been held outside a capital city.

"They will have the opportunity to hear the same message from the region's workers and employers that we have heard: communities want to lock in new investment, growth and jobs," she said.

"This is a collective responsibility."

Better planning, transport links, and the same level of services that people who live in capital cities enjoy were at the top of the list for Cairns businesspeople at a BCA forum a fortnight ago.

This is in line with a plan the BCA released in April for how business and policymakers can work together to create a stronger, more resilient Australia.

With unemployment in many regions persistently high, especially for young people, Ms Westacott says employers are committed to creating new jobs but they need better planning and infrastructure, and an improved vocational training system, among other things.

"We want to give regional Australia a much louder voice - if we could prioritise infrastructure, a skills agenda, and put a series of investments into regional Australia, it will add to our national prosperity," she said.

The council is calling for an audit of the strengths and weaknesses of key regional areas, infrastructure spending targeted to areas with the biggest potential for growth, good transport links between regional centres and cities, fast and reliable internet in the regions, and a complete overhaul of the tertiary education sector that treats vocational training and universities as a single unit.

Australian Associated Press