A new City Deal in Adelaide will transform the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site into an innovation ecosystem with the new Australian Space Agency at its heart.
During last week’s COAG meeting in Adelaide, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Steven Marshall signed a memorandum of understanding and promised to reveal the full funding package next year – with $41 million in federal government money already allocated for the Space Agency.
The agency will “open doors for local businesses and Australian access to the $US345 billion global space industry”, the Prime Minister declared, predicting that the investment would help triple Australia’s space economy to $12 billion and create up to 20,000 jobs by 2030.
The site, now called Lot Fourteen, will be also be home to private sector start-ups, businesses and a new art gallery.
According to Cities Minister Alan Tudge the precinct will become “one of the greatest hubs of innovation in Australia” and will be a “real driver for growth, for liveability, for culture in this state and make Adelaide an even better place to live”.
The announcement follows the City of Adelaide’s commitment to Ten Gigabit Adelaide, a high-speed fibre optic data network being rolled out to commercial buildings across the city – a natural fit with the high-tech requirements of the new Space Agency.
Adelaide joins a growing list of cities – including Darwin, Townsville, Western Sydney, Geelong, Hobart, Launceston and Perth – that have secured millions of dollars in funding through City Deals.
City Deals, tripartite agreements between all tiers of government to support long-term strategic projects, have been long-advocated by the Property Council to unlock the productive capacity of city infrastructure.
“If successful, this City Deal will do more than just bolster the innovation offerings of South Australia,” says the Property Council’s executive director in South Australia, Daniel Gannon.
“It will also transform the East End and riverbank precinct by bringing a working population back into the eastern corner of the city.”
The City Deal represents another opportunity to grow South Australia’s population, Gannon adds. He points to a recent Essential Poll commissioned by the Property Council which found 74 per cent of Adelaide residents believe population growth is good – provided it is properly planned.
“The Property Council will continue to work with all governments to ensure that Adelaide’s City Deal powers the economy, grows our population and drives investment in the property sector,” Gannon adds.