Lead Story
Issue No. 45 - Feb/March 2009
Outback Ambition
by Professor Richard Blandy
Economic survival in the Bush –the example of Wudinna Wudinna is a small, rural (largely wheat growing)community of about 1350 people on the Eyre Highway,in central Eyre Peninsula, just south of the scenic Gawler Ranges, Lake Acraman and Lake Gairdner.
The town of Wudinna itself has a population of about 600 people and is quite isolated, 258km by road from Port Augusta, 210km from Ceduna and 212km from Port Lincoln. Roxby Downs and the Olympic Dam mine are 510km by road via Port Augusta and Woomera.
Adelaide is 563km and 7 hours drive away.
Australia, despite its vast territory, is one of the most urbanised countries in the world. SA is even more urbanised than Australia as a whole, with more than three quarters of its population in just one city –Adelaide. While Adelaide might have been faring well in recent times, how have isolated Outback towns like Wudinna (and the regions surrounding them been going?
Wudinna’s economy and people Data on employment by industry in the Statistical Local Area of Le Hunte (ie, Wudinna) at the Census in 2006 are presented in Table 1, together with data on employment by industry for the State as a whole.
As can be seen in Table 1, Wudinna’s economy is heavily concentrated in agriculture (40.1% of jobs), with the next biggest sectors being retail trade, education and training and health care and social assistance.
The Herfindahl Index of Diversification of industry employment for Wudinna is 0.19, which indicates a major lack of diversification.
Wudinna’s fortunes are tied very heavily to the fortunes of its rural sector. This is risky, because the present drought and long run movements in the terms of trade for agricultural commodities threaten farming viability. Local farms and businesses have been compelled to become more flexible and diversified because of the drought and difficult economic times. Major farm machinery dealer, Ramsey Brothers, for example, has diversified into c...
