Local councils, state members of Parliament, federal members of Parliament and the Chamber of Commerce need to work out a way to get us out of a mess that’s clearly not of their making. The problem is that of the 14,400 employed in Singleton, 5,248 are directly employed in mining! That’s about a third of our employment workforce. When one considers the further 2,000 employees in manufacturing, construction and associated mining service and related industries, you don’t have to be Einstein to ascertain that nearly half Singleton’s population is dependent on the Mining Industry. And it’s not looking that flash.

Perhaps Singleton can learn from Detroit in the USA of America and the State of Michigan. Once known as the car capital of the world, the State of Michigan had the worst unemployment rate in the nation throughout the recession of 2008 and 2009. While national unemployment hovered at a worrisome 10%, the unemployment rate in Michigan was a devastating 14% to 15%. This high unemployment rate was due to dramatic auto industry layoffs and the financial domino effect they produced in other sectors of the state economy. As unemployed auto workers searched for work and jobs dried up, highly educated workers began to flee the state in large numbers. Between 2001 and 2009, Michigan lost a resident every nine minutes, resulting in a loss of 465,000 people in eight years. These displaced workers followed work to other states, resulting in a glut of workers across the country and possibly contributing to nationwide economic woes.

Michigan has since diversified away from cars into the Technology Industry and Finance. But what can our township of Singleton do? We are a part of a broader region known as the Hunter Valley where only 5 to 7% of the total workplace is employed in mining. There is tourism, agriculture, engineering, retail, education and so on. This week George Souris our local member reiterated a government grant that is available for people in cities to relocate to regional areas such as Singleton. The grant amounts to approximately $7,000. Yet the key is not building larger populations in centres such as Singleton and our new cousin Huntlee. The question is what to do with the people that already live here.

Let’s make eight suggestions and then you can throw in your point of view in comments:

1. Commence the Singleton Bypass now. Abbott has committed billions to roads and the bypass would create hundreds of associated jobs at a time when construction, engineering and transport jobs are in need

2. Focus on the development of the Mount Thorley Industrial Estate. Given the new Hunter Expressway feeds directly into the Golden Highway and the New England Highway, Mt Thorley is well placed to facilitate business which can access the markets of Sydney, Newcastle, The New England, Dubbo and Brisbane. Rents are inexpensive, land per square metre is relatively cheap and skilled labour is readily available.

3. Forget about Huntlee, its years away and we already have a local population. Let’s expand our education facilities by expanding the local TAFE and building a high school up at Singleton Heights. These two facilities will create construction jobs in the near term, facilitate a better learning platform locally and create long term education jobs in and around Singleton

4. Provide a Commonwealth and State Grant to facilitate the development of tourism in and around Lake St. Clair through extended accommodation, public awareness (both in and outside Australia) and a focus on the sites close proximity to a massive population who enjoy fishing, camping, water skiing and bush walking in areas within 2 to 3 hours of where they live

5. Set up a Singleton Economic Forum calling on submissions from Federal, State and Local Government in conjunction with business, the public and our Chamber Of Commerce with a closing date of December 31, 2014. Access the ideas from the forum to work out the most economically rational solutions to our existing problem, that being a lack of diversification in industry.

6. Western Sydney now has Badgerys Creek and the second Airport, let’s forget about the defence base at Holsworthy, and continue to develop the Singleton defence base. With Elf Stage’s 1 and 2 at Singleton Army Base all but complete we now have a first class defence capability foundation that can be strengthened to employ greater numbers of defence personnel in a region that is close to Sydney and the defence capital of Canberra. 

7. Singleton is surrounded by vineyards yet we don’t participate directly in this industry. We could benefit from the development of a large scale wine processing and manufacturing facility that affords smaller vineyards the ability to access professional and affordable grape processing without the need to process “in – house’. This facility would not only create local jobs but assist the Broke Fordwich Alliance and other local wine houses in accessing first class “state of the art” processing facilities with a view to tapping into export markets via a central distribution network supported by the State Government. Let’s face it, State Governments have been living off the proceeds from the hard work of Singleton miners for decades, it’s about time they gave a bit back. And last but not least,

8. Stop promoting Singleton and the Hunter as a mining hub. Focus on lifestyle. We have top spots to live in semi rural areas including Westbrook, Broke, St Clair, Elderslie, Whittingham, Belford and beyond. People can commute to Maitland, Newcastle and many other centres from these beautiful semi rural locations. Local government needs to reduce the land size upon which you can build. 40 hectares is too large and cost prohibitive. People do not want or need 100 acres. It’s often too expensive. 2, 5, 10 and 20 acre lots in these areas would be affordable and accessible to retirees as well as commuters.

Wake up Singleton, put your hand up now..before its too late!

Tim Harrison

Singleton