DECENTRALISATION should be at the centre of the nation's economic development strategy, Labor leader Anthony Albanese says.
In the a major speech on Monday, the Opposition leader said the nation had a "once in a century moment" to overhaul its economy.
Mr Albanese said an "appropriate decentralisation strategy" would boost regional economic development and take pressure off the capital cities, and should "be at the heart" of national economic development.
"We can start by restoring public sector jobs in areas like Centrelink, Medicare and [Department of] Veterans' Affairs, that deliver services to those regional communities," Mr Albanese said.
"The contracting out of essential public services is not in the national interest and must stop.
"It's time to put human beings and human dignity back in to human services."
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Labor's regional development spokeswoman Catherine King said the pandemic had shown it was possible to be productive while working remotely for both the private and public sector.
"You don't need to be near a CBD to do some of the work these sectors do," Ms King said.
"We should incentivise the private sector to have more people working remotely, to start making our regions more attractive."
Many regional areas have suffered public sector job cuts, she said, particularly in services such as Centrelink and Medicare, some of which had lost their shop fronts.
She called for those jobs and shop fronts to be restored.
"The number of jobs in regional areas has been shrinking - I've seen that in my own hometown of Ballarat," Ms King said.
"It has happened slowly but surely over time, as the government focuses on digitising these services.
"We'd like to see some of that restored. Human service should be delivered with a human face."
Mr Albanese flagged the need for "nation-building infrastructure", including iconic projects such as high-speed rail, and further investment in high-valued manufacturing to boost regional jobs.
The Labor leader also wants a "well design conservation program" to lift rural employment.
"It could target weed and pest control, river revitalisation, emissions reduction and bushfire restoration," Mr Albanese said.
"This would be supported by Landcare, agriculture and environmental groups, provide economic support part those regions devastated by the bushfires."