![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/06\/IMG_9292_93811-rotated.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
He also oversaw a $1 billion infrastructure investment scheme that let councils fund long-overdue projects by subsidising interest payments.<\/p>\n
“The state covered the interest for five years, and councils finally had the cash flow to fix roads and services,” he said. “We got $1 billion of infrastructure on the ground in under two years.”<\/p>\n
He also established the roles of cross-border and small business commissioners and brought in a rule that required departments to remove two existing regulations for every new one introduced.<\/p>\n
“I sometimes wish I’d made it three,” he said.<\/p>\n
After retiring as Member for Ballina in 2015, Page was asked by the Federal and State Governments to chair Regional Development Australia (RDA) Northern Rivers. He held the role from 2016 until March 2025.<\/p>\n
Page said the RDA’s main focus was job creation in a region where unemployment, once double the state average, has now fallen to roughly in line with it.<\/p>\n
“The key to providing employment opportunities is to focus on industries where you have a competitive advantage,” he said.<\/p>\n
“In our case that means sustainable tourism, food production, creative industries, aged care, construction, health, education, and anything that’s clean and green.”<\/p>\n
After a lifetime of public service, Page said he now plans to travel with his wife Liz but hasn’t ruled out “doing something useful” for the local community in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AFTER decades in public life, Don Page never expected a medal \u2014 but he’s proud of what he helped achieve. The former Ballina MP, who served in state parliament for 27 years, has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the people of New South Wales, particularly on the […]<\/p>\n