Ms Marcia

How do we turn a negative into a positive? The disaster that was Cyclone Marcia we can’t change, it’s what we do over the next couple of months that may provide some long term benefits to our region. I quite understand those who have lost their home may not agree there are any benefits to be gained. What will follow Marcia though is money, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars. It may or may not be enough to replace what was damaged or destroyed, but its new money circulating in our region. It started last Thursday mainly in the supermarkets, extra money being spent on bread, milk and batteries. Anyone in the line-up at Menzies Service Station or Bunnings can testify to the extra money circulating on Saturday on fuel, ice, torches, jerry cans and generators. The repair work and clean up will see much, much more money circulating with insurance payouts, government assistance and the hundreds of extra workers in the region. It is how this influx of money and labour is managed that may provide long term benefits to our region. Buy local where possible should our regions leaders plea. By using local tradespeople and locally sourced products the magic multiplier effect can be maximised. As simple as an economic theory can be explained; an injection of new cash into a region leads to more spending, creating more jobs with it spending and so on. Meaning a hundred million dollars of new money injected into our region can over time multiply into more than $100M. The benefits could be evident in years to come if we maximise the local spend. Councils responsible for major repair works should give preferential treatment to local businesses, especially those who invest in employing apprentices and trainees. Insisting that insurance companies use local businesses to do repair work, or if you receive an insurance payout use local businesses. Out-of-towners like bees to honey will arrive in our region then leave when the work dries up. To maximise the multiplier effect we need to support the businesses that live in our region, employ from within our region, support community clubs and events. Doing so may lead to many of our regions unemployed thanking Marcia for the jobs they gained and our region stronger for it.