The Mid West hosts a rich diversity of industry and opportunity for investors. Join in this growing economy that comprises mining, tourism, fishing, agriculture industries and a wide array of mineral wealth comprising iron ore, mineral sands, talc, energy deposits, natural gas, silver, nickel and copper.

The Gascoyne showcases a diverse economy with tourism playing the key role in wealth creation in conjunction with fishing, horticultural, mining and pastoralism. The strong growth of the tourism sector, good water resources and management of natural environment, encourages economic and social development in this region.

The Mid West hosts a rich diversity of industry and opportunity for investors. Join in this growing economy that comprises mining, tourism, fishing, agriculture industries and a wide array of mineral wealth comprising iron ore, mineral sands, talc, energy deposits, natural gas, silver, nickel and copper.

The Gascoyne showcases a diverse economy with tourism playing the key role in wealth creation in conjunction with fishing, horticultural, mining and pastoralism. The strong growth of the tourism sector, good water resources and management of natural environment, encourages economic and social development in this region.

The Mid West hosts a rich diversity of industry and opportunity for investors. Join in this growing economy that comprises mining, tourism, fishing, agriculture industries and a wide array of mineral wealth comprising iron ore, mineral sands, talc, energy deposits, natural gas, silver, nickel and copper.

The Gascoyne showcases a diverse economy with tourism playing the key role in wealth creation in conjunction with fishing, horticultural, mining and pastoralism. The strong growth of the tourism sector, good water resources and management of natural environment, encourages economic and social development in this region.

The Mid West region has abundant renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, wave, geothermal and biomass. A number of renewable energy projects operate in the region and several more are in planning. The region’s renewable energy potential is constrained until the 330kV line (stage 2) is developed, enabling new projects to feed power into the SWIS.

Storage and the commercial realities of renewable energy in comparison to conventional sources also constrains further development of the local industry.

The Mid West hosts a rich diversity of industry and opportunity for investors. Join in this growing economy that comprises mining, tourism, fishing, agriculture industries and a wide array of mineral wealth comprising iron ore, mineral sands, talc, energy deposits, natural gas, silver, nickel and copper.

The Gascoyne showcases a diverse economy with tourism playing the key role in wealth creation in conjunction with fishing, horticultural, mining and pastoralism. The strong growth of the tourism sector, good water resources and management of natural environment, encourages economic and social development in this region.

The Geraldton Universities Centre (GUC) works in partnership with universities across Australia to support tertiary education delivery that meets Mid West student and industry needs. GUC's community-based model, the first of its kind in Australia, has drawn attention from regional communities throughout Australia with some now replicating the model.

The Durack Institute of Technology (Durack) offers more than 250 qualifications from Certificate 1 to Advanced Diploma level and was recently allocated RfR funding to develop a Centre for Training in the Resources Sector at the proposed Geraldton airport technology park, and a Health Sciences and Community Services facility and Aboriginal Learning Centre at the Fitzgerald Street campus in Geraldton.

The Mid West is one of the largest agricultural regions in WA. The region’s mainstay broad acre crops are wheat, canola and lupins. Cattle and sheep are the region’s dominant livestock, with poultry, pigs and goats also produced.

It is also host to the State's largest fishing sector with a dominant rock lobster industry, and an emerging aquaculture sector, including finfish and oysters. The region produces approximately one- third of Western Australia’s fishery.

Pearl aquaculture is well established in the Abrolhos Islands. Other aquaculture is developing in the region with several trials already undertaken or planned. Species trialled include yellow tail kingfish (YTK), snapper, mulloway, seahorse, octopus and ornamental fish at various scales.

The Gascoyne is known as a key food bowl. The Carnarvon Horticulture District is considered one of the best-managed irrigation districts in Australia and contributes 99.5 per cent of the total production value of Western Australian bananas.

Is Australia’s housing crisis self-inflicted? If so, then we need a series of reforms to reverse it
The best long-term solution to the structural problems of the rental crisis is to build more public and/or affordable housing.

Make renting more Sustainable. Increase rent assistance or look at rental caps, similar to countries in Europe and some US states, long term tenancy agreements with incentives for all parties to the agreement.

Build to Rent
The Build to Rent property sector is growing in Australia – this new class of housing is focused on providing high quality purpose designed and built rental stock, creating an additional housing choice for Australian renters with greater security and service.

Build to Rent developments are typically owned by institutional investors for the long term and the owner could be the developer/ongoing building manager. The format provides tenants with the flexibility of renting with the security of home ownership.

Build-to-Rent developments are usually large-scale residential properties specifically designed, built and managed for long-term ownership and rental.

Social Housing
In the 40 years between 1981 and 2021 the percentage of all Australian households living in social housing (i.e. state owned and managed public housing or community managed housing) has ranged from 4.9 per cent in 1981 to 3.8 per cent in 2021. Such a drop in the proportion of social housing raises the question of has Australia achieved the balance right, and also just what is the right level of social housing for Australia?

In 2018 Statistics Canada said 628,700 Canadian households, more than one in ten renter households nationally (13.5% of 4,652,500), were living in social and affordable housing.
In New Zealand, as of 30 June 2021, there were 74,337 public housing households. This equates to 4.0% of households living in social housing.

In England (in 2018) 17% of households (3.9 million) lived in social housing, while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes that 1.2 million households live in public housing, which is 0.98 per cent of all housing.

The Mid West has a diverse range of minerals and is also highly prospective for wind, wave, geothermal and biomass energy production and is increasingly recognised as having a role as a future energy hub including renewable hydrogen.

One of Australia's most diverse mining provinces that includes talc, gold, lead, tin, tantalum, zinc, heavy mineral sands, iron ore, copper, clays, pigments, nickel, vanadium, titanium, gypsum, chromite, platinoids, limestone, limesands and manganese ore.
Australia's first lead mine at Galena (Geraldine Lead Mine, 1849).

Home to the first iron ore mine in WA (Koolanooka, 1966).

Mount Magnet is the longest surviving gold mining settlement in WA.

The oldest and most productive talc mine in the southern hemisphere (second most productive in the world) is located in Three Springs.

Wilgie Mia near Cue is the oldest known mining operation in the world with excavations of ochre occurring for at least 40,000 years.

The world’s oldest rocks are located in the Mid West (in the Murchison subregion).

The significant radio quietness of the Murchison area was a key to Australia attracting part of the $2 billion (Euro) international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project (hosted jointly with South Africa).

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Astronomy and Space Science (CASS) has a presence in the Mid West through the $152 million Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO). The MRO will be a base for part of the SKA (the largest radio astronomy project ever developed) and a pre-eminent site for radio astronomy research and development.

CSIRO also operates the MRO Support Facility (MSF) in Geraldton.

The MSF provides support for CSIRO’s radio astronomy projects at the MRO. The MSF has access to super computer facilities at the Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre in Perth.

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is also located at the MRO. Led by Curtin University, the MWA is an international collaboration between institutions in the US, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Both the existing ASKAP and MWA projects will be expanded from Australia's component of the SKA (stage 1).

The WA Space Centre near Mingenew was Australia’s first satellite park. The facility is owned and operated by Space Australia, a subsidiary of the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC).

There is so much to discover in the diverse Mid West region. A wealth of resources and natural beauty takes you on a journey through a range of industries. Here are a few examples:
• Closer to the coast, you will find the City of Greater Geraldton, Dongara, Kalbarri and the newly named national park, the Houtman Abrolhos Islands.
• The broad-acre farming land of the North Midlands awakens in spring with vibrant cascades of wildflowers across the breakaway country. These host one of the biggest open gardens in the world!
• The pristine coastline of the Batavia Coast and its rich coastal bounty includes the Western Rock Lobster of the Indian Ocean. A treasure of marine stories opens, full of courage and mutiny, to thrill all who dare discover them. A diverse culture of people and activities guarantees enjoyment to all who visit this region.

The Gascoyne region stretches across some 600km of pristine, postcard-perfect coastline that borders the Indian Ocean. This includes:
• The breathtaking, World Heritage area of Shark Bay. It is well known for its pearling history, sensational shell beaches, stromatolites and the dolphins at Monkey Mia.
• The Ningaloo Reef, Cape Range National Park showcases the world’s largest fringing reef bursting with marine life including the breathtaking whale sharks.
• The rich ochre reds of the desert country. The vast outback of the Upper Gascoyne leads to Mt Augustus, the largest monolith in the world, and the awe-inspiring Kennedy Ranges which are part of the Kennedy Range National Park.
• Carnarvon is a sub-tropical coastal town that sits on the banks of the powerful Gascoyne River. This fresh water river system enables the successful growth of a diverse agriculture industry, recognised as the ‘food bowl’ of Western Australia and is a regional hub for many outlining pastoralists. Carnarvon gained world recognition for playing a part as integral support with its Tracking Station, ensuring man landed successfully on the moon. Now a space museum is a major attraction in town.

The Meru Waste Disposal Facility (MWDF) in Geraldton is the only Class III landfill north of Perth and services a number of Mid West local governments. The City of Greater Geraldton's proposed Community Reuse and Recycling Centre also supports Geraldton and parts of the wider region. Significant further investment in facilities such as the MWDF is required to meet State recycling targets.

A priority for the region must be to optimise the use of regional waste as a resource, with a number of innovative solutions available. Achieving economies of scale remains a significant challenge for the region in regard to management of waste.