Barnaby Joyce’s call for those who are struggling to get into the capital city housing market to look to regional areas has enormous merit and potential, particularly for our region.

Currently, the City of Wodonga is the fastest-growing local government area in the state, with 80 per cent of the population under the age of 50.

With the Wodonga Logic project now entrenched and talk of a Very Fast Train (VFT) becoming a daily reality, now is the time to expand our region.

We must make it a viable option for those in Sydney and Melbourne to seriously look at moving north or south.

From a Victorian perspective, Wodonga has many upsides.

Good local government services, health and education opportunities, a decent airport not too far away and a rail system that has plenty of potential (as soon as it is fixed).

Looking over the 100km radius of the City of Wodonga, we have further growth opportunities that are easily connected via the Hume Freeway.

And of course, greater population creates greater demand.

People who move to the regions need to be aware that they can have great expectations about their future.

A future built upon a lower capital base and regional development can provide the environment for their children to flourish as we see the opportunities, employment and otherwise, that stem from the growth of agriculture and industry. 

History is a great tutor.

Australia, after 230 years of European settlement, has a comparable gross domestic product and population to that of the United States.

The advancement of technology and communication puts those of us in the regions in a position of great advantage, financially and socially.

Without sounding too harsh to our city cousins, a lot of the criticism directed towards Barnaby Joyce came from those who are reluctant to expand their thinking and skills towards taking the plunge of settling in the regions.

In fact a friend of mine, in a typical sheltered Sydney-ism, messaged me to say that if he were to move out bush that he’d be unemployed.

Not so. We are a country consumed by what we are trained in, not what we can achieve.

We all have a duty to advance Australia in a fair and balanced way in such that our further education is not a roadblock.

It is a path to better things and broader horizons. 

While it is not practical for everyone to consider leaving cities and relocating to the regions, surveys show that, at any time, about 10 per cent of city population is desirous of the move.

It is therefore a duty of government to seriously make decentralisation of business and industry a reality.

Thereby making that desire to exit the cities a possible alternative.

Marty Corboy ran as the National Party candidate for Indi in last year’s federal election.