THE Turnbull Government has now released its much-anticipated Smart Cities Plan pitched at making sure our nation’s cities are more livable, accessible and productive.

This is the first time a national plan talks about creating long-term investment in major regional cities. Considering the impact of these cities, this shift is a welcome and timely advancement.

Regional capital cities have a combined population of more than four million people – the size of one of Australia’s largest cities, Sydney or Melbourne.

Major regional cities also support an additional four million people living in surrounding towns and rural areas.

This means a third of Australians rely on a thriving regional city for their everyday needs.

Just like those who call a capital city home; those living in a regional capital city need more jobs and services to make their cities better places to live.

The Smart Cities Plan City Deals could be a way to support this investment in regional capital cities. The deals are a key part of the Turnbull Government’s plan to negotiate agreements between city leaders, the private sector and governments.

The deals aim to deliver specific infrastructure projects and allow cities to do what they think is best to help businesses grow and create new jobs and attract and retain new people.

The end result would be the creation of smart, powerful and innovative regional capital cities that are shaping their own economic destinies.

A national cities plan should include a role for each of our 50 regional capital cities nationwide .

Our leaders need to make sure all regional cities are planned for and invested in because it really is time that those living in regional Australia had a fair go.