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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-06 Daily Xml
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EAST TIMOR INITIATIVE

167 Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (17 July 2012). With respect to 2012-13 Budget Paper 4, vol. 4, p. 24—

1. What is the East Timor Initiative?

2. For what purpose did the Government fund Puglia in 2011-12 and how much and for what purpose will funding be provided from 2012-13 onwards?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development): I have been advised of the following:

1. East Timor Initiative

Since 2007-08, the South Australian Government has been involved in the delivery of two capacity development programs in East Timor in partnership with AusAID:

The Basic Construction Skills Training Program was subcontracted by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet to the South Australian Government-owned Austraining International Pty Ltd. The components of this program included curriculum development and accreditation, a train-the-trainer program, a mentoring process involving SA TAFE staff and basic trades skills delivery through the Salesian Mission's Don Bosco secondary education sector in Timor Leste.

The overall AusAID contribution to this initiative was $2.09 million, with the South Australian Government contributing $0.69 million.

Around 500 trainees will have graduated from the program by the end of 2012, with 22 teachers having completed the 'train the trainer' program. Austraining reports that local employment take-up is around 70 per cent, and some graduates have established their own small businesses, including in disadvantaged districts.

The Public Sector Capacity Development Program enhances the policy development, management and technical skills of senior level public servants in Timor Leste through mentored work immersions hosted by South Australian Government agencies for periods of six to twelve weeks.

The overall AusAID contribution to this program is $536,463, with the South Australian Government contributing $410,687.

As of end 2011-12, nineteen work immersions have been hosted by seven South Australian government agencies, with systemic reforms introduced to participants' substantive agencies in East Timor through the new knowledge and skills acquired in the program. Some examples include:

implementation of call-centre servicing standards and a new pricing regime (Electricity Authority)

staged implementation of an Electronic Management Information System (EMIS), and Human Resource Management system for teachers (Ministry of Education)

establishment of a mining regulatory system and inspectorate (State Secretariat for Minerals and Resources)

creation of a database for mapping and monitoring marine species (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry)

introduction of feedlot trial undertaken with Balinese cattle, demonstrating increased growth in cattle compared with extensive grazing on poor quality pastures (Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry).

2. Puglia Funding

In February 2008, the governments of the Region of Apulia in Italy and the State of South Australia entered into an agreement to provide $1.2 million each over three years for a higher education and research initiative. This initiative involves Apulia investing in scholarships for Masters degrees to Apulian students in South Australian universities and South Australia investing in South Australian research centres through collaborative research projects of strategic interest to the state.

In 2011-12 the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) allocated the balance of funding commitment (namely, $692,000) towards the 2011 Regione Puglia—South Australia Awards for Research Collaboration.

The public call was announced to South Australian research institutes and universities in August 2011. From the applications received, eight bilateral research projects were selected (list attached) and recommended by an independent panel chaired by South Australia's Chief Scientist and approved by the Premier.

The $700,000 government funding will leverage a total amount of $3.294 million, which includes in-kind and partnership contributions (from research centres and the Apulia Government).

Ninety per cent of the allocated $700,000 was disbursed in February 2012 and the remaining ten per cent will be provided by the end of May 2013, pending receipt of each recipient's final report.

No additional funding is available for these activities post-June 2013.

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