LIKE many regions, Moree has had its share of challenges, but it is also a town that stands to benefit from growth in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism.
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This will be the focus of tonight’s The Next Crop forum, to be held at the Moree Services Club from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. The event includes free entry and is open to the whole community, and those from outside Moree.
Among our panelists will be the Regional Australia Institute’s (RAI’s) editor in chief, Amanda Barwick, who will have the most up-to-date data on where Moree ranks.
This information, while only a small part of the picture, is from the institute’s soon-to-be-released Insights project, which helps in regional decision making.
RAI’s senior data analyst, Richard Beaton, said while the area has seen some challenges, such as an ageing and declining population, the institute had identified some economic improvements from 2011 to 2016.
“We see improvement in Moree’s relative standing in business sophistication,” he said.
Likewise, when it came to innovation, Moree Plains also moved up from 443rd rank to 360th across Australia (out of 550-plus local government areas).
This was due primarily to increases in those with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) qualifications and improvements in those employed in knowledge intensive business services.
The panel will also include Moree Plains Shire Council economic and community development officer, Mark Connolly, Bellata farmer, Geoff Kirkby, who will share some learnings of establishing a supply chain into China and NSW Farmers rural affairs policy director, Kathy Rankin.
