Thriving Regions Fund

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:58): Supplementary: has the minister approved any Enabling Infrastructure Programs to date that are not in Independent or Labor-held electorates?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:58): Clearly, the opposition leader in this place thinks that the electorate should be the decisive factor in awarding funding. That is not a view I share. The process for the enabling infrastructure grants funds was a new process, designed to be robust and independent. It involved phase 1, an expression of interest from those who might like to put forward projects. Then an assessment was provided which involved the regional development associations. The regional development associations looked at what their priorities were across their regions, which had already been placed into their regional plans. I see that those opposite don't like the idea of a robust, transparent and independent process. For those opposite—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —to imagine that the regional development associations are somehow stacked with Labor acolytes who would therefore only look at projects that would assist a Labor government—which was clearly the implication—is absolutely nonsensical. The process, which has enabled this particular funding to progress in the way that it has, has been a two-stage process so that the projects announced and funded are in accordance with the overall regional priorities, according to the RDA. They, of course, are not the only ones to provide information into the process, but they are a very significant one.

We are very, very pleased that so much of the interest from the RDAs, and the priorities that they have set, have fed so actively into this process, and I look forward to being able to discuss further successful applicants in the near future. I would also mention that, of course, it is getting harder and harder to announce projects that are not in Independent seats in regional areas because those opposite keep losing their members—they keep losing their members. If we had been making these announcements in the same places, maybe seven years ago, they would all have been in Liberal seats, wouldn't they? But they keep losing their Liberal members.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: They keep losing their Liberal members to become Independents. If they keep losing their members, I don't think the South Australian state government can be blamed for that.