The South West is one of Western Australia’s nine recognised regions located outside the Perth metropolitan area. Fronting the Indian and Southern oceans, covering 24,000 square kilometres and including 12 local government areas, the South West is the most populous and economically diverse of WA’s regions.

Of the landmass that comprises the region, about two-thirds is made up of State Forest, National Parks and regional parks, with the southern forests being the largest component. About 25% is occupied by agricultural and rural uses, with about 8% used for industrial and urban development.

The economy benefits from the combination of the commodity rich hinterland (agriculture and mineral resources) in close proximity to a working port. Alumina refining and associated construction play a major role in economic output and employment. Agriculture, forestry and associated processing are significant sectors supplying dairy, beef, vegetables and wood/timber products for domestic consumption and increasingly for export markets.

Historically, timber production and agriculture have been the predominant land uses within the Margaret River region, which has some of the most productive agricultural land in the State. The agriculture sector is diverse and includes a variety of cropping, viticulture and wine, fruit, flower and vegetable production, olives and olive oil, pasture production and livestock - beef and dairy cattle, sheep and deer, timber and artisan cheese production.

The South West is one of Western Australia’s nine recognised regions located outside the Perth metropolitan area. Fronting the Indian and Southern oceans, covering 24,000 square kilometres and including 12 local government areas, the South West is the most populous and economically diverse of WA’s regions.

Of the landmass that comprises the region, about two-thirds is made up of State Forest, National Parks and regional parks, with the southern forests being the largest component. About 25% is occupied by agricultural and rural uses, with about 8% used for industrial and urban development.

The economy benefits from the combination of the commodity rich hinterland (agriculture and mineral resources) in close proximity to a working port. Alumina refining and associated construction play a major role in economic output and employment. Agriculture, forestry and associated processing are significant sectors supplying dairy, beef, vegetables and wood/timber products for domestic consumption and increasingly for export markets.

Historically, timber production and agriculture have been the predominant land uses within the Margaret River region, which has some of the most productive agricultural land in the State. The agriculture sector is diverse and includes a variety of cropping, viticulture and wine, fruit, flower and vegetable production, olives and olive oil, pasture production and livestock - beef and dairy cattle, sheep and deer, timber and artisan cheese production.

The South West is one of Western Australia’s nine recognised regions located outside the Perth metropolitan area. Fronting the Indian and Southern oceans, covering 24,000 square kilometres and including 12 local government areas, the South West is the most populous and economically diverse of WA’s regions.

Of the landmass that comprises the region, about two-thirds is made up of State Forest, National Parks and regional parks, with the southern forests being the largest component. About 25% is occupied by agricultural and rural uses, with about 8% used for industrial and urban development.

The economy benefits from the combination of the commodity rich hinterland (agriculture and mineral resources) in close proximity to a working port. Alumina refining and associated construction play a major role in economic output and employment. Agriculture, forestry and associated processing are significant sectors supplying dairy, beef, vegetables and wood/timber products for domestic consumption and increasingly for export markets.

Historically, timber production and agriculture have been the predominant land uses within the Margaret River region, which has some of the most productive agricultural land in the State. The agriculture sector is diverse and includes a variety of cropping, viticulture and wine, fruit, flower and vegetable production, olives and olive oil, pasture production and livestock - beef and dairy cattle, sheep and deer, timber and artisan cheese production.

The changing climate will become an ever more powerful driver as forests and farming is impacted by continued rainfall decline, storm events become more extreme, bushfires pose greater threats and habitat is threatened.

National Tidal Centre data showed that the South West had the greatest sea level rises in Australia (+7.4mm/pa, 1990-2010) which will inevitably impact coastal infrastructure.

Regardless of what people believe is the cause, the planet is getting hotter – every year for 44 years now. Bushfires have seen issues become increasingly political and there will likely be conflict between those seeking restoration of ecosystems and those seeking technological solutions.

Innovation in food, water for food and consumer attitudes will drive change as the impact of population and climate change affects lives. This will likely form a part of the deglobalisation attitude and shift to localisation – farmers’ markets, seasonal foods and so on.

The value of the sector is difficult to calculate given that it comprises advertising, architecture, art, crafts, design, fashion, film, music, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, toys and games, TV and radio, and video games. Further complexity is added when accounting for employment that might be a mix of tasks that include creative industries work.

Interest in the South West is based upon the regional attractor, an organised cluster, tourism industry and events that support growth in the sector. There is ad hoc evidence indicating the sector has grown in areas of digital media, design, marketing, film, television, animation and gaming technologies.

The economic contribution of the arts is well recognised in the South West. The
region features Australia’s largest film prize through CinefestOZ, Western Australia’s premier country music event at Boyup Brook, plus the Cherry Harmony Festival, Truffle Kerfuffle and Margaret River Gourmet Escape.

The Capes region features Margaret River Open Studios which attracts 25,000 visitors each year to experience art in many forms, and there are music events from the Bridgetown Blues and Boyup Brook Country Music to Busselton’s Jazz on the Bay and Bunbury’s Grooving the Moo for young audiences.

The South West is one of Western Australia’s nine recognised regions located outside the Perth metropolitan area. Fronting the Indian and Southern oceans, covering 24,000 square kilometres and including 12 local government areas, the South West is the most populous and economically diverse of WA’s regions.

Of the landmass that comprises the region, about two-thirds is made up of State Forest, National Parks and regional parks, with the southern forests being the largest component. About 25% is occupied by agricultural and rural uses, with about 8% used for industrial and urban development.

The economy benefits from the combination of the commodity rich hinterland (agriculture and mineral resources) in close proximity to a working port. Alumina refining and associated construction play a major role in economic output and employment. Agriculture, forestry and associated processing are significant sectors supplying dairy, beef, vegetables and wood/timber products for domestic consumption and increasingly for export markets.

Historically, timber production and agriculture have been the predominant land uses within the Margaret River region, which has some of the most productive agricultural land in the State. The agriculture sector is diverse and includes a variety of cropping, viticulture and wine, fruit, flower and vegetable production, olives and olive oil, pasture production and livestock - beef and dairy cattle, sheep and deer, timber and artisan cheese production.

Universities and the VET sector need to embrace change and work together. The need for reskilling will combine higher education and vocational, the key being right-time right-place education.

Learning pathways will need to be easier to navigate and flexible, offering more choice and micro credentialing options.

Australia has a skills deficit along with most other countries and collectively, we need to increase work-integrated learning and particularly increase STEM-skilled graduate numbers.

The Margaret River region is a globally recognised brand which helps attract 86% of all overseas tourist visitation to the South West.

Of the South West’s five wine sub-regions, Margaret River contributes only 2% of the national crush but remains the standout for exports ($33m) with 59% of WA’s bottled wine export value and 54% of wine sold in the top two price brackets at an average of four times the Australian export average. The quality underpins regional brand recognition and reputation for other industry sectors, particularly tourism and food.

Fisheries, particularly aquaculture, have increasingly realised potential particularly in abalone along the south coast. In respect of fishing, the recreational fishing industry has greater value than commercial operations.

The Dardanup timber precinct captures Australia’s leading particle board manufacturer, Laminex, and Wespine which produces 80% of the State’s construction timbers. Koppers produces WA’s power poles. Sustainable practices used in the South West add value to timber and its credentials as the ultimate renewable construction material.

Mining and mine processing are the South West’s most significant economic contributors. With the growth of the Greenbushes lithium mine, the highest grade and largest hard rock lithium deposit in the world, and the current development of the multi-billion-dollar Albemarle processing plant, mining and minerals processing will become ever more important.

Greenbushes is home to the world’s premium lithium ore (spodumene) resource. The operation was expanded and feeds a processing plant in Kwinana and one under construction in Kemerton, 17km from Bunbury Port.

Energy production in the region is experiencing unprecedented disruption. The days are numbered for traditional coal-fired baseload electricity generation and a local industry dating back to the 19th Century. Closures echo trends towards new energy and growth options that have seen solar and wind become the cheapest forms of power generation.

The energy landscape is changing in the face of climate change, the appetite for renewables, government policy and disruption to traditional baseload production. Homes are the new power generators and it is clear that the next two decades will look nothing like the last two. Rooftop solar take up (300MW across the state) has impacted on the grid and none more so than the South West Interconnected System (SWIS).

At the heart of the SWIS is Collie and since the 19th Century coal has been Collie’s major contribution to the State. However, that is changing as policy transitions to renewable and low emission energy production on an increasingly decentralised trading grid.

Tourism is of fundamental importance to the South West, as an employer and enhancing the regional brand at the international level. The Capes sub- region is one of Australia’s most tourism-dependent regions and a host of proposals can only heighten the South West’s standing in the world while adding value locally through employment and changed perceptions, particularly in respect of Bunbury’s waterfront.

World-beating plans to develop an internationally-recognised underwater observatory at Busselton, Australia’s first motorcycle trail hub in Manjimup, and, first class mountain biking experiences at a number of regional locations all add to brand reputation.

The 1.8km Busselton Jetty is the South West’s most visited attraction and features one of just six underwater observatories internationally. Inspired by migrating humpback whales that pass along the coastline, the new observatory is expected to pull in an extra 200,000 visitors per year once built.

Bunbury directly invests in tourism and is responsible for the management and funding of major regional tourism infrastructure and experiences including: Bunbury Visitor Centre, Bunbury Wildlife Park, Bunbury Museum and Heritage Centre, Bunbury Regional Art Gallery and the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre. Our aim is to ensure these services form part of a broad range of quality offerings in Bunbury.

The South West Waste Precinct has the potential to meet State and Federal policy expectations by rapidly heading towards zero waste to landfill while using ‘waste’ as a resource and boosting innovation, jobs and the economy. Developing a composting facility will cut landfill by 35,000tpa while a glass crusher would utilise every bottle reducing glass to sand for use in road building and additionally addressing a shortage of fill material.