David Landini should be commended for raising important issues. Photo: Facebook/Riverina State.
A Wakool man was mocked on social media after he registered a political party that will advocate for the Riverina to break away from NSW and form its own state.
But it’s worth listening to David Landini’s arguments about rural neglect under a city-based government, even if his ultimate solution seems unrealistic.
Mr Landini believes that when Sydney-based politicians make decisions for people who live in small towns 500 kilometres away, they often get things wrong. He says those sitting in Macquarie Street don’t understand issues such as drought, irrigation, mobile blackspots, the dangers of unsealed roads, or our difficulties accessing quality health care and education.
Hence, when budgets are handed down, a new football stadium in Parramatta takes precedence over something like an MRI machine at Griffith Hospital. Those in charge also think it’s acceptable that someone in Hillston must travel three hours down the road to Wagga just to have a bone set when injured.
Anthony Albanese may liken Canberra to a regional town, but he’d notice things are slightly different if he lived out west.
‘’Rexit’’ champion Mr Landini therefore wants the centre of power in the Riverina to be much closer to the population base and is pushing for a form of self-government.
“What’s he smoking?” was one response on Facebook to this suggestion, while another asked Mr Landini whether he was “getting in early for April first next year”. He was even called a conspiracy theorist.
But the movement for a separate Riverina state could best be described as an ambit claim – an extravagant demand aimed at drawing people’s attention to a legitimate concern in the hope that it will provoke some action.
Protest rallies against service closures are regular occurrences in the Riverina. Photo: Denny Fachin.
Rural decline is not a myth or conspiracy. Thirty years ago, people in the Murrumbidgee and Far West had the same average life expectancy as our counterparts in Sydney. Now, we die around three to four years earlier.
The gap between metro and rural living standards is clearly growing – we have lower average incomes, higher suicide rates and diminishing access to doctors and higher education facilities.
From Darlington Point losing its last remaining bank to The Rock’s only butchery closing, Whitton Public School shutting up shop and Beelbangera’s vanishing postal service, we are seeing small towns cast aside as an inconvenience.
In recent times, a Griffith group launched a movement for Western Riverina hospitals to separate from the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and do their own administration. They’re sick of having to travel two hours for basic services, arguing local decision-making improves outcomes (much like the reasoning behind Rexit).
But our influence on public policy is shrinking in all facets of life, not just health.
The federal seat of Riverina is already bigger than European countries like Holland and Denmark, meaning people live hundreds of kilometres away from their representative. It will only get worse.
Mr Landini points out that a rural electorate is abolished every eight years, as populations drift towards the city.
If the trend continues, poor Michael McCormack will eventually end up being the member for everyone west of the Blue Mountains. As energetic an MP as he is, he can only do so much. The fewer members in parliament we have, the less influence we’ll have on decisions, the more people will want to relocate and the spiral of rural decline will accelerate.
Those of you mocking the Riverina State movement should acknowledge the core problems this Wakool man is trying to address. If you don’t want a Rexit, we’d love to hear your alternatives before the lights go off in more small towns across regional NSW and we all end up moving to Sydney.
