The critique is organised to address the following issues;

· Monitoring, Review and Implementation

"Shaping the Future - An Economic Development and Vision Strategy for the Wheatbelt Region" has all the elements of an economic development strategy, but it will be shown that in several areas, the strategy is significantly compromised and fails to achieve its full potential.

In many respects, the strategy appears to be a promotional and scene-setting document rather than a tool designed to discover potential economic development opportunities within the Wheatbelt region.

The critique makes a number of suggestions that would improve the strategy but concludes that the goals, objectives and strategies enumerated in "Shaping the Future - An Economic Development and Vision Strategy for the Wheatbelt Region" are more about government facilitation rather than identification of specific industry opportunities.

Taken to its logical conclusion, such a strategy might see the relatively small population of, say, the Pilbara region (which produces a huge amount of wealth from the export of natural gas and iron ore) receiving an inordinate amount of State Government infrastructure funding.

4. Consolidate information in pre-feasibility assessment of chosen and projects and opportunities.

While little data collection has taken place, community consultation appears to have been quite sound. Elements of the SWOT analysis are present however a separation of external threats and internal weaknesses for the region is missing. Objectives and strategies that reflect an export orientation and the need for leadership, link back strongly to the main thrust of the document however action plans, the assignment of responsibilities and timeframes are entirely absent.

The growth rate is significant and demands the use of input-output tables. Input-output tables for the manufacturing sector could disclose issues such as ;

A criticism of the profiles is that little evidence is provided to back up such assertions as "A focus on quality and continuity of [grain] supply will be essential to retain premium prices and premium markets."(p.19). Presumably the assertion comes as a result of industry consultation. However in the absence of any reference, the reader is asked to accept these assertions as truth.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shaping Future, Association Victoria, Sector Census, Input-Output Tables, Wheatbelt Region, Generation Infrastructure, Population Population, Powell Reading, Commerce Trade, Compete Global, shaping future, strategy document, wheatbelt region, economic development, swot analysis, community consultation, economic audit, economic audit profile, audit profile, municipal association victoria, development strategy, municipal association, economic development strategy, strategy wheatbelt region, employment industrial sector,
Approximate Word count = 4532
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page double spaced)