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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-16 Daily Xml
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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:48): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development a question about the government's commitment to regional South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: The President of South Australia's Local Government Association, Mr Kym McHugh, stated on ABC Riverland radio on 27 September that the South Australian government lacked commitment to regional development and that he hopes a discussion paper aimed at improving communication between the levels of government will help to overcome the issue. The President said that the region's worth to SA is not translated into the recognition it receives from the South Australian government.

It was reported that the Minister for Regional Development pledged to release a statement last year detailing the South Australian government's commitment to regional South Australia; however, Mr McHugh stated that the delay proves the low importance the government places on the regions. My questions to the minister are:

1. With the Local Government Association publicly announcing the government's lack of support for regional South Australia, what actions has the government taken to restore confidence within South Australia's regions?

2. Can the minister explain why there is a delay in releasing the regional statement, and can the minister give us a date as to when such a regional statement will be announced?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (15:50): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions. I thought I had a copy of some of the details, but I have not got that in front of me. I assure honourable members that this government is very much committed to regional development and regional communities. In our last budget alone $95 million has been allocated to regional South Australia.

A range of targeted investments aim to drive growth and generate flow-on benefits for regional communities and to provide a large range of improvements to regional infrastructure. I am happy to talk about the regional statement in a moment. The honourable member asked a wide range of questions, and I am happy to work through them one by one. As always, I give comprehensive answers in this place.

A significant investment has been made to enable us to respond to emergencies better to ensure safe communities and healthy neighbourhoods. A bushfire response of $2.2 million was allocated in 2011-12 to meet additional expenses associated with the extension of aerial firefighting, replacement of breathing apparatus for our South Australian Country Fire Service, safety for frontline volunteers with over $600,000 additional training for our CFS, replacement rescue boats for the CES, the local government disaster fund of $8.2 million, and things like the Mobilong prison investing $10.9 million over the next number of years to improve surveillance at Murraylands prison.

In terms of assistance for children, again, we have seen improvement in children's facilities in Renmark North Primary and a number of others. The Skills for All initiatives also have a very positive outcome for regions. There is the Woomera PACE—the list goes on. There are a range of significant commitments for our regions. For instance, in terms of health funding for our regions, health spending accounts for, I am advised, 31 per cent and a significant amount is provided to our regions.

In relation to the regional statement, I am very pleased to provide progress on that. As I have said in this place previously, we are looking to draw together aspects from our regional plans and road maps that set out visions for our regions, including tourism, industry development infrastructure and looking at a collaborative process between governments and the regions. We are looking to have the regional statement build on the review and release of the update of the South Australian Strategic Plan also in light of the seven priorities.

Considerable work has been done. PIRSA has engaged the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies to assist in preparing a draft statement, and that statement will be developed in consultation with peak bodies. In addition, the relevant state level peak bodies will obviously be key partners with us in the draft of the regional statement documentation, which includes all the relevant dependencies. The list of consultations, regional profiles, etc. has been completed and is currently being considered by my agency.

Comprehensive consultation has occurred. It is a very broad-reaching document and so has taken some time, but we have been out there working with key stakeholders and pulling together the work needed to complete that comprehensive statement. As I said, considerable work has been done and we should be nearing the completion of that within the foreseeable future.

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