Future role and contribution of regional capitals to Australia interim report

Regional capitals across Australia perform a critical role in their communities and each faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities. The terms of reference for this inquiry were crafted to enable the committee to, among other things, investigate how Australian government policy could better address the needs of these regional cities. The terms of reference were to inquire into and report on: The future role and contribution of regional capitals to Australia, including: a. an assessment of current demographic trends and the changing role of regional capitals; b. an analysis of current funding provided to regional capitals; c. an analysis of the benefit of additional funding regional capitals could receive based on population, demand for services and their strategic importance for the region, state or country; d. investment challenges and opportunities to maintain or grow regional capitals, including infrastructure, community and human services, communications and natural resources; e. incentives and policy measures that would support sustainable growth in regional capitals; f. the impact the changing environment will have on regional capitals; and g. any other related matters

Valuing Recreation in the Coorong, Australia, with Travel Cost and Contingent Behaviour Models*

The study reported in this article is focused on estimating recreational values associated with the Coorong in South Australia. Count data models extended with contingent behaviour (CB) questions have been used to assess recreation values as well as sensitivity to changed access conditions. A recreation value of $111 per adult visitor per day has been estimated, which can be extrapolated to a consumer surplus of approximately$30.5 million per annum at the site. Random coefficient negative binomial models have been applied to the CB data, with results indicating that a marginal value of at least $17.20 per person per trip is attached to each 1 per cent change in access

Testing for convergent validity between travel cost and contingent valuation estimates of recreation values in the Coorong, Australia *

, while no single methodological or framing issue could be identified that would reconcile the difference between TCM and CVM values, it appears likely that there may be a combination of factors that drive the systematic variations in consumer surplus values. The evidence in this study suggests that the most important of these are likely to be the different decision points underpinning data collection and the consideration of substitute sites, strategic responses and the treatment of uncertain responses within the CVM. Copyright 2010 The Authors. AJARE 2010 Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc. and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Replenishing Australia’s water future:From stagnation to innovation

This chapter charts Australia’s leading-edge water law and governance reforms. It discusses progress on implementation and the challenges this has posed. Connections are drawn between Australia’s experience and the water law and governance literature. After outlining the book’s chapters, four fundamental questions are analysed and answered, namely how successful is Australia’s approach to designing and implementing water governance? What conditions have enabled or blocked its success, including environment, social, political and legal? How does Australia’s water governance system compare and contrast with different international water governance practices? And what are the broader insights for future water governance practice and theory