Good evening adjudicators, opposition, and members of the

audience. Before I begin my speech, I must first rebut the

opposition.
(Rebuttal)
Moving onto my substantive. Having the government
financially incentivise people and immigrants to move to
regional Victoria will allow for urban growth within regional
areas that will create stable communities ultimately benefiting
the state. Think of it like this. If workers and such are
incentivised to move from urban Melbourne to the more
regional areas, there will be a development and growth in
population in that area. Now what does this do? That growth in
population will create economic demand and a surplus of
workers who need jobs. The economic demand within the
population would then increase building activity and attract
infrastructure and other service fundings which in turn creates
the jobs needed to support the demand. Growth of these areas
will lead to better quality of education and healthcare for future
generations across the state, economic development that will
contribute to our GDP and more. On top of this, 30% of
Australia’s population are immigrants. And this number keeps
growing. Things such as regional visas can help funnel and
direct these immigrants who seek economic opportunities into
these areas which will also contribute and help these regional
areas grow. Essentially, these communities will be able to
support themselves so that the incentivised people will have
more of a reason to stay whilst attracting more from urbanised
Melbourne. Yes, this will take a long time. But the point is that
this is a way we can avoid the destructive affect that
overpopulation within urban areas can have, as well as a way to
advance our state, economically and sustainably.

Moving onto my second point. By incentivising people to

move, we can alleviate some of the pressure and problems in
urbanised Melbourne. Most urban areas face issues such as an
increase in traffic congestion, pollution levels and high costs of
living, most of which contribute to global problems such as
climate change. By having people move to regional areas,
slowly but surely, we can reduce the strain on infrastructure,
ease traffic congestion, enhance efficiency of public transport,
overcrowding and demand for public services. With reduced
demand for urban amenities, services can be better optimised to
support the urban population. Also, by dispersing the
population density, we can relieve environmental stress, such as
noise and air pollution, and instead promote sustainable living
practises. This will help to mitigate air pollution levels while
preserving green spaces that can help enhance the overall
quality of our environment as long as appropriate measures are
implemented to ensure sustainable practises and protections in
both urban and regional areas. These people moving can also
help fix the housing crisis in urban Melbourne. People moving
is simply just spreading the demand for houses across a broader
area, making housing more accessible and affordable for the
rapidly growing population. All of this will help contribute to
sustainable economic development and a better quality of life
for all residents across the state.

Overall, by incentivising people to move to regional areas, we

are creating stable communities that will contribute to our
state’s economy whilst helping to fix some of pressures and
problems we face in Melbourne on a daily basis. Let us forge a
future where every corner of Victoria flourishes, where
communities thrive and where the promise for a better
tomorrow is realised for all. Thank you.