By Nasik Swami: Many essential service providers, including the government, are “abandoning” rural towns like Naracoorte in South Australia. Many regional towns in the South East are losing—or have already lost—essential services such as banking, postal, Medicare, Centrelink, resident health specialists, TAFE and other tertiary education providers, telecommunications, along with many others. And now, it’s the face-to-face police services. Many providers are operating on reduced hours or have gone completely online. With connectivity and reliable internet service being a big challenge both in regional towns and throughout rural areas, many people, including seniors and those without reliable phone and internet, have no alternative to face-to-face service. As a result, many of our citizens are being referred to metropolitan centres to access these critical services requiring round trips of two to eight hours of travel. But what is the reason for this “pandemic”? Why are our regional towns becoming unattractive, and […]