Our Regions Matter

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:40): A South Australian-first blueprint to drive economic growth in the state's regions and create jobs across a range of industries has been released by the Marshall Liberal government. The Our Regions Matter blueprint focuses on five key areas to drive growth: regional voice, regional creativity, regional leadership and skills, regional services and regional investment. Premier Steven Marshall, who recently released the blueprint and launched the Our Regions Matter website in Port Lincoln, rightly said that South Australia's regions are the economic powerhouse that drives prosperity for the entire state.

Our regions are responsible for contributing around $29 billion per year to the South Australian economy across a range of industries, including farming, fishing, mining, manufacturing and tourism. In fact, there are nearly 150,000 people employed in regional South Australia and it is important we do everything we can to drive economic growth in our regions, creating local jobs. That is why we as a government are investing over $3 billion across more than 1,000 projects across the regions, to create thousands of jobs and better the lives of regional South Australians.

To achieve this there is a particular focus on health, education and sport. The release of this South Australian government-first regional development strategy will allow the Marshall government to work positively and strategically with communities to grow our regions. This strategy is supported by our new Our Regions Matter website, which allows residents to search the investments being made to improve services in their own communities and businesses. This focus is allowing us to further explore and determine which regions to establish and create jobs.

Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham is leading the state government's commitment to improving life in regional South Australia. This commitment recognises the importance of our regions to the state economy and identifies key areas to focus on to help deliver key projects and create local jobs.

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: But it doesn't fund them.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: There is much more I could say but I will leave it at that. I will continue with this detail and provide some detail to the Hon. Ms Scriven next time.