REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE FUND

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Regional Development. What is the government doing to assist regional businesses with their infrastructure needs?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development) (14:56): This government continues to recognise and support the vital role that regional South Australia plays in this state's economy. One of the many ways—and it is certainly not the only way—in which the government supports economic development in the regions is through the Regional Development Infrastructure Fund. The aim of the fund is to provide strategic support for regional infrastructure projects which support job creation, investment, increase our state's exports and which provide the potential for leveraging further investment through other sources. Since its inception, the RDIF has provided approximately $28.5 million of assistance in supporting projects that have generated an estimated 5,470 new jobs and over $1.3 billion in total project investment.

The five projects which were recommended for support in this round, with grants totalling $780,000, were:

Up to $60,000 to Earthwork Solutions in Murray Bridge towards the cost of electricity, telecommunications and water infrastructure. The contractor is investing around $1 million to expand its businesses operations with a new facility at Karoonda Road, Murray Bridge, with the expansion seeing staff numbers increase from 25 to more than 100 and annual turnover expected to rise from $3.8 million to $24 million.

Up to $300,000 to Kingston Estate Wines in the Riverland towards the cost of power augmentation and electricity infrastructure. The work is part of a major upgrade to its storage and processing capacity to a site capable of processing 100,000 tonnes of grapes into table wine. The expansion will boost its export percentage from 80 per cent to 90 per cent and is expected to create 25 new jobs and generate a net economic value over 10 years of $49.9 million.

Up to $272,000 to Kangaroo Island Abalone (which was recently acquired by Two Rocks Abalone) towards the cost of electricity infrastructure as part of its plan to significantly increase abalone production at its East Farm on Kangaroo Island, taking production from 90 tonnes through to 175 tonnes by 2012. The achievement of that target would potentially exceed the whole output of the current abalone sector in South Australia.

Up to $96,500 to Glenellen Poultry Pty Ltd, which will go towards the costs of electricity and water infrastructure. This work is part of stage 1 of a new chicken broiler farm at Jervois, approximately 16 kilometres south-east of Murray Bridge. The proposed farm will be developed in three stages over four years and is expected to add $15.58 million to the state's economy over a decade, as well as creating 20 full-time jobs.

Up to $52,000 to Parilla Premium Potatoes to assist with power augmentation and upgrading electricity infrastructure as part of its construction of a packaging and storage facility at Parilla. The company also plans to boost onion production from a current 20,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes by 2010. This will result in the creation of 10 jobs and an additional $3.5 million in gross state product in 2010.

Mr Bignell interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: This stuff doesn't make you cry, mate; the amount of money going into our regions makes you happy. These targeted grants represent only a fraction of the total investment the state government is making for the benefit of our regional communities and complement larger scale infrastructure investment in areas such as regional transport, education, health and port facilities. Nevertheless, they provide a vital source of support to help specific businesses in our regions become established and expand, creating further investment opportunities and many more new jobs.