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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-28 Daily Xml
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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:00): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development a question about regional development.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Local government president Mr Kym McHugh said on ABC radio on 14 September that the Local Government Association will push for the state government to listen more closely to issues in regional areas. At the LGA policy forum, delegates voiced support for the regional development ministry to have a higher priority within cabinet. Mr McHugh said:

We've seen the government centralise services, so they've taken people out of the regions and brought them back into Adelaide. This does not help the regions grow, that's a hindrance to regions growing and other issues like where we need to make sure the regions are well recognised.

My questions are:

1. Does the minister believe that the government is taking regional development seriously when there have been up to eight different ministers handling the regional development portfolio over the last nine years?

2. Will the minister make a commitment to outline an action plan, at a policy and operational level, that will address the regional development concerns that were raised recently at the LGA policy forum?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Gambling) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions. I am pleased to have an opportunity to address those important particular issues.

In respect to the number of ministers who have had responsibility for regional development, I always say that it is quality, not quantity. Regional development has been most fortunate indeed in having had a series of really high calibre ministers who have had responsibility for regional development over time. As I said, it is quality, not quantity, that matters in this, and regional development has certainly had quality ministers.

I guess the other opportunity in this is that there are more members in cabinet and more ministers around the cabinet table who have had a personal hands-on responsibility for regional development and would therefore have a better understanding and greater knowledge. In some ways, regional development is therefore better represented in cabinet by having more ministers around the table who have had experience with regional development. In fact, I think there are some real advantages in that; it certainly helps enrich awareness, information and knowledge.

The state government has worked very hard to ensure that it does engage fully with regional communities. The Regional Communities Consultative Council (RCCC) conducts regional forums and visits on a regular basis. It has been in place now for a number of years and has visited a wide number of regions. It engages directly with local communities on a wide range of different issues and reports back and provides advice to the government in respect to the sorts of information it has gained throughout its visits. It recently conducted a forum in the Riverland, and I look forward to meeting with the chair, Peter Blacker, soon to receive his report back from that.

Since I have been regional development minister, the Local Government Association has had two major forums concentrating on regional development issues. I have attended both of those forums, and I am engaged at that level. One of our other strategies is that I have given a commitment to develop a regional statement. That regional statement is about helping to develop in a very clear and coherent way the across government responses in relation to the wide range of different services and projects and programs that government currently has in place.

We know the essence of bringing about real success in terms of the regions in government is not about building a regional development silo. The real key to it is about being able to connect across government. We know that Health has a very significant regional health program, as do education, policing, etc. Right across our portfolio areas there is a significant contribution to and focus on regional areas. What we do not have, what is missing, is a single statement in one place that clearly and coherently links what government is doing right across government. I think the regional statement will assist in doing that.

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