REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUSTRALIA

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (14:31): Will the minister indicate what level of dialogue took place in relation to the RDA Board appointments with the office of the federal minister, the Hon. Simon Crean?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:32): I am just not too sure what the question is. Is he asking what dialogue occurred between the federal minister's office and RDA applicants?

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: No, you.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I believe that there would have been general information about the timing of the calling of officers and things like that, so some of those basic process issues would have no doubt been discussed in correspondence, or information passed on in correspondence: routine sort of stuff. I believe that I would have—and I am pretty sure I recall doing this—raised the issue of the representation of women on RDAs, encouraging and bringing to the attention of the federal minister the importance of having women represented in an equitable way on these boards. As with all work that I do, I very much promote the involvement of women to ensure that they are represented in our community at all levels. I believe I recall writing to him to encourage him to ensure that women were represented on these boards.