Shadows of the past: the tracks of the old Ghan railway disappear into the ochre sands of Oodnadatta on the edge of the Simpson Desert.It seems unlikely that a place called South Australia held jurisdiction all the way to the northern coastline, yet that was the case for 50 odd years – and calls are growing to reignite the almost-forgotten dream of a central Australian state. It was 1911 when South Australia relinquished control of the Northern Territory, but in 2015 a bold pitch has…
Continue reading"It's a sad reminder that for a lot of us, there’s not going to be a place for us in Adelaide to do what we do..."The University of Adelaide’s planned cuts to teaching staff jobs and music courses have been detailed in a leaked memorandum circulating on social media. The “draft change proposal” memo, sent to music staff by Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts Professor Jennie Shaw earlier this month, shows the university plans to make a dozen staff redundant, and permanently remove…
Continue readingDetails of the Government's South Road upgrade at the intersection of Grange Road.A blueprint to open Adelaide’s north-south corridor was submitted to the state Labor Government early in its first term in office, with striking similarities to the plan newly-created with $8.5 million of federal funding. A 2003 proposal entitled “Adelaide’s Missing North-South Link” was prepared by the Committee for Adelaide Roads, an industry lobby group comprised of members from organisations including the Civil Contractors Federation, the SA Road Transport Association, the Transport Workers Union…
Continue readingBEFORE: The original concept for extending a Kintore Avenue "boulevard" into the grounds of Government House.The State Government’s one-time design guru has stunningly rejected the Weatherill Government’s “city vibrancy”agenda, declaring Adelaide needs an “intervention” to avoid further “self-harm”. Former Integrated Design Commissioner Tim Horton was not so much underwhelmed as outraged by yesterday’s long-delayed unveiling of the Government’s vision for an Anzac Centenary Memorial Garden Walk, which he says is little more than a “brick footpath”. “I took a look at the murals released and…
Continue readingThe Victoria Park members’ stand after it had to be moved. HORSE racing would return to the city under a fresh push that has won the backing of Premier Jay Weatherill and key government ministers. A group of influential businessmen is spearheading racing’s return to Victoria Park, an outcome supported by the South Australian Jockey Club and Thoroughbred Racing SA. The move is sure to trigger a robust response from interest groups, which have resisted the return of racing to the city. It would almost…
Continue readingColin Goodall. Picture Campbell Brodie.SOME of South Australia’s best minds have launched a new campaign to lure more big companies to Adelaide as part of ambitious to drive economic growth across the state. The Committee for Adelaide, whose membership include business, charity and arts leaders, is lobbying to have at least two publicly-listed companies and a major international brand to move to the city within two years. The committee, which is politically neutral, is already in discussions with one major Australian Securities Exchange-listed company while…
Continue readingA view of Adelaide from the new Torrens foot bridge. Picture: Calum RobertsonADELAIDE “thinks but never grows” because city leaders give people false hope that change is on the way, the state’s former Commissioner for Integrated Design has warned. In a highly outspoken attack, Timothy Horton said a generation of “old thinkers and old men” had overseen years of inferior debate about how to improve the state. His criticism was directed at Adelaide City Council after it conducted an event linked to developing a city…
Continue readingSouth Australia is a small market within a small market, so local sales will never drive Pharmaceuticals to headquarter here based on volume. But increasingly, pharmaceutical companies operate as integrated global businesses, where R&D can be located in centres close to research capability and markets that are suited to speedy trials, and a friendly regulatory environment. Economic factors that inform decisions on the location of R&D and production facilities include; availability of key factors of production and other specialised resources (such as high quality local…
Continue readingCommittee for Adelaide - Josh Fanning from Committee for Adelaide on Vimeo.
Continue readingThese projects start the hard work of delivering on the major themes of the Committee’s two publications; Earning our place in a global economy (Nov 2013), and Agenda for Growth (May 2014). According to Committee Chair, Colin Goodall “Adelaide works best when it works together. So importantly, each of these projects is being delivered in partnership with leading South Australian organisations. Our first year has been about bringing well-researched ideas to public attention. Our second year is about developing practical ways to bring these ideas…
Continue readingThe group describes itself as a non-partisan think-tank and is self-funded by its members, who are something of a who's-who of Adelaide. Ian Smith is one of the group's founders; a corporate lobbyist with strong Liberal Party ties, but his motivation is more personal than political. "I've got two young kids, a nine-year-old and a six-year-old and ... if you don't plan now for a sort of an Adelaide in which they can work, it won't happen," he said. Mr Smith is pleased the committee…
Continue readingThe decision by GMH last week to cease production in South Australia by 2017 is a reminder that bold leadership and new partnerships are needed if we want to transform our economy to a more sustainable platform for innovation and growth. Much of this transformation will be painful and success is not guaranteed. Our industries are being asked to transform in order to compete in our region. Their success is essential to the wider regional economic development of South Australia. From the 1850’s to the…
Continue readingHere's an opinion piece our Chair, Colin Goodall posted on Indaily, 2 December 2013, introducing himself and the work we hope to achieve with this new alliance. I came to Adelaide by choice three years ago, having lived and worked around the world with BP, in the US, UK and Europe. I liked the idea of a 'Committee for Adelaide' because the model works. It brings together a broad spectrum of people and organisations that think the same way but lack a common forum. Everyone…
Continue readingAdvertiser journalist Cameron England was one of the first to cover the Committee, writing in March 2013 that South Australia's best and brightest were quietly being tapped on the shoulder with a vision to drive economic growth and help the state play to its strengths.
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