Question Time

Thriving Regions Fund

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): My questions are to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding PIRSA funding and the Thriving Regions Fund:

1. Can the minister please name all of the streams associated with the Thriving Regions Fund?

2. Can the minister please state how much funding is allocated to each of the streams?

3. Can the minister please state the dates of opening and closing for each round of those streams?

4. Can the minister explain how and where people in the regions can find this information?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:20): I thank the honourable member for her questions. The Thriving Regions Fund is a total of $15 million per year. There are three streams: the Strengthening Industry stream, the Thriving Communities stream, and the Enabling Infrastructure stream. The Enabling Infrastructure program is $5 million. They are being assessed in a two-stage process. The first process was an expression of interest.

It is important, in my view, that, where possible, people don't expend large amounts of time and resources into applications if they are not going to be competitive in the final assessment and, therefore, that program has a two-stage process. The first is the expression of interest and then, depending on the recommendations from that, a number of applicants were invited to stage 2, which of course involves a lot more detail in terms of the projects and the funding that is being applied for. I am advised that there should be recommendations coming to me about that stream in the very near future.

Yesterday, I outlined the latest round of the Thriving Communities Fund, which is about $800,000 to 21 different projects, if I recall correctly. That is something that has been very well received. The third is the Strengthening Industries program, which is open year round. If people go to the PIRSA website and put in 'Thriving Regions' or 'Thriving Regions Fund' it will come up with that. I think the current line in that document in regard to the first two of those streams says that the opening and closing dates and recipients are announced throughout the year—or words to that effect—I obviously don't have it right in front of me. That is the situation in regard to our very successful Thriving Regions Fund.