State Early Commercialisation Fund

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:29): Supplementary question: how many companies—maybe do the arithmetic; maybe I should—are ready and eligible to progress to funding through the Venture Capital Fund? Is that beyond tier 3?

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Yes.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: So, how many in that?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his supplementary question. The South Australian Venture Capital Fund, a $50 million state government backed venture capital fund requiring at least matching private equity to make an investment, is in the final weeks of selecting a fund manager. Obviously, because the fund manager is just some weeks away from being selected, no investments from the Venture Capital Fund have yet been made, but no doubt they will be made soon after the fund manager, in the coming weeks, is appointed.