Close to 60 of the Sunshine Coast’s most prominent business and government representatives will come together at the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast this week to address two important regional topics as part of a forum hosted by the Sunshine Coast Business Council.
The Combined Government and Business Forum is the second event of its kind to be held locally, and will take place from midday on Tuesday, 26 September.
Sunshine Coast Business Council Chair Sandy Zubrinich said representatives from the government, tourism, transport, property development, education and business sectors would be in attendance, bringing with them a wide range of perspectives on what the region could look like in the future.
“At a previous urban development conference held back in June, Chief Executive and Managing Director of The Hornery Institute, Kate Meyrick, posed the question ‘What kind of region do we want the Sunshine Coast to be?’” Ms Zubrinich said.
“While this may appear a seemingly straightforward question, the answer is far more challenging and is one of the discussions we will be having.”
“The other topic of conversation focuses on regional integrated transport — again, a complex issue and one that is getting a lot of focus by all tiers of government.”
To assist in driving the discussion, Ms Zubrinich said Urbis National Director of Design, James Tuma, would facilitate two interactive sessions throughout the event, bringing decades of experience and insight to the table.
“James is a visionary urban designer with qualifications in built environments and landscape architecture,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“He is well-versed in designing town centres and public spaces, and is an advocate for sustainable cities, so we’re thrilled to have him contributing to these important discussions.”
Ms Zubrinich said a number of local officials would also take to the stage, including Darrell Edwards of RDA Sunshine Coast, Mike Hyslop and Barbara Van Heerden of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Andrew Powell MP, Sunshine Coast Council Cr Rick Baberowski, Noosa Mayor Tony Wellington and Ted O’Brien MP.
“These speakers will be outlining their transport priorities, providing insight into the Sunshine Coast Transport Plan and the current support for transport infrastructure being offered at a federal level,” she said.
“This collaborative input is focused on aligning views across the various levels of government to ensure the Sunshine Coast region gets the modern infrastructure it needs to underpin a prosperous future, as opposed to just the infrastructure governments can ‘afford’.”
“Speakers will set the scene with a number of 10-minute presentations, and also participate in an infrastructure-focused panel discussion.”
Ms Zubrinich said the willingness of all levels of government and business to come together and collaborate on these important regional issues was heartening and she looked forward to some robust discussion.
“It’s great to have the mayors from the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Gympie areas in attendance as well as our regional federal and state members of parliament, and I am hopeful all parties present on the day will be able to come to some consensus around the best way forward for the region as a whole.”
“There really are very few limits to what we can achieve if everyone is singing from the same song sheet, and I genuinely believe we will achieve the best possible outcomes by working cooperatively as a group.”
The Combined Government and Business Forum will be held at the USC Amphitheatre from midday on Tuesday, 26 September. Attendance is by invitation.