Regional Development Australia

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister inform the chamber about how the Regional Development Australia network is working to facilitate economic and community development in the Upper Spencer Gulf in ways complementary to the government's State Prosperity Project?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for her question. Last week, it was a great pleasure to join my cabinet colleagues, including the Attorney-General and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs among others, for a series of public forums in the Upper Spencer Gulf to promote the government's State Prosperity Project and to inform members of the community about it. The forums, held on successive nights in Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —were in fact a roaring success. They attracted a combined attendance of in excess of 1,000 community members—1,000 community members regionally.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Point of order: when you have members of the opposition and the government heckling across the chamber, you can't hear the minister speak.

The PRESIDENT: Good point. I want to hear the answer, especially given it is about the Upper Spencer Gulf, which is rather dear to me. I would like to hear the answer.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: I would have hoped those opposite would be interested in the Upper Spencer Gulf, too, but clearly not.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, just give your answer.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: As I was trying to say, the forums attracted a combined attendance in excess of 1,000 community members, and they provided the Premier and our combined team the opportunity to demonstrate what real leadership and a real plan looks like: a real plan to unlock the region's wind and solar power generation, magnetite iron ore and copper resources and the region's smelters through projects like the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, Northern Water project and the construction of the Port Augusta Technical College.

These projects have the potential to unlock thousands of high-paid jobs in the Upper Spencer Gulf and generate prosperity for the state for generations to come. In conjunction with the housing development set to begin in the region, these projects incorporate the construction needed to provide these large, once-in-a-generation opportunities. Supporting this important work will be community-building initiatives, which benefit so much from the local intelligence and program development administration of the Regional Development Australia network, the RDAs.

While travelling through the region last week, I took the opportunity to catch up with the chief executives of the three RDA regions that incorporate the Upper Spencer Gulf: the Eyre Peninsula, Far North, and Yorke and Mid North regions. As I have come to expect, I was once again impressed by the initiative, program management and collaboration demonstrated by the network. In many instances, it is the RDA network that is doing the detailed work needed to measure and understand key components of livability, such as the current and projected shortages in housing, child care and primary healthcare services.

They are collaborating, I am advised, on a regional workforce program, and the RDA network is successfully administering the Regional Leadership Development Program on behalf of our government. As I have alluded to in this chamber before, this $2 million program plays a crucial role in expanding the capabilities of a new pool of leaders in regional communities.

From empowering the next generation of leaders with the skills needed to be well-informed board and committee members to building skills and effective people management, resilience and cultural awareness, the program is bringing new cohorts of leaders, and in particular young women, to prominence right across regional South Australia, including in the Upper Spencer Gulf.

One of the major benefits of this program is it is delivered in regional towns where regional people actually live, facilitating the participation of those who are unable to travel into Adelaide for formal training opportunities. I commend the initiative and hard work of the RDA network in the Upper Spencer Gulf and recognise that their endeavours are complementary to the government's plan laid out in the State Prosperity Project.