Of note is the consistency between the ideas raised on the day and the vision of the Committee for Adelaide and other organisations, particularly in terms of sustainability, telling our brand story and targeted but significant population growth. The Committee’s vision for Adelaide is an “extraordinary, sustainable and vibrant global city that people from all over the world want to be a part of and those who live here are proud to call home”.
Population growth received significant support – including an aspiration to grow the State to three million people – along with developing a stronger, more confident and more compelling narrative for the state. There were many great ideas on the day.
THE IDEAS (TO GROW OUR POPULATION AND GENERATE STATE PRIDE):
The five ideas which gained the most support on the day were:
- HIGH LEVELS OF WELLNESS AND WELLBEING:Banning fast food and becoming the healthy state were popular. Underlining this was an ambition for high levels of wellness and wellbeing in our people. This aligns closely with the Committee’s support for an ambition for Adelaide to become the world’s first well city and work in this area is underway.
- UNLOCKING SUPERANNUATION:Unlocking 2% of Super SA’s funds for local investment into infrastructure and entrepreneurship was seen as a sensible path to turbocharge the State’s growth.
- THE CARBON NEUTRAL HOME OF RENEWABLES AND FREE ENERGY: The current instability was seen as a great opportunity to catalyse action on climate. Building on our globally recognised renewables innovation and becoming carbon neutral was a key focus along with an ambitious plan to provide free energy for all South Australian households and businesses (including exploring the use of nuclear energy and hydrogen) and becoming a net energy exporter. The free energy proposal was viewed as a strong lever for attracting people and business, opening up opportunities such as establishing heavy energy use industries (the silicon valley of high-energy production) along the Spencer Gulf, lifting the population in that area to 250,000+ people.
- AN EDUCATION SYSTEM FIT FOR THE FUTURE : The University of Australia idea (merging the three public universities) received considerable support along with a strong focus on our education system more broadly, from childhood education right through to university and traineeships. It was noted that our education system – designed to suit the needs of the third industrial revolution rather than the fourth – needed a structural overhaul, the quality of school education often depended on postcodes or household wealth while the best and brightest students were not encouraged or incentivised to pursue teaching careers. Adelaide’s opportunity to become a university city powered by a much larger university presence was seen as a key opportunity for attracting talent and business.
- FOCUSING ON OUR STRENGTHS:Leveraging the opportunities and capabilities we are known for was seen by most in the room as essential. We can become the epicentre of space, defence, high-tech, creative industries, agriculture, sustainability and medical research. Adelaide should also be known as a city of start-ups.
See below a selection of Photos by Russell Millard. Click here for more photos.
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