Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Services) Share this | Hansard source

I will respond briefly to the last point made by the honourable member. We have one ACC in Sydney, one in Brisbane, one in Adelaide, one in Perth, one in the whole of Tasmania but five in Melbourne. So, when looking at the way in which the regional programs can be implemented most efficiently, it is obvious that we would look at whether it is necessary to have five times as many ACCs in Melbourne as there are in Sydney. This proposal has been circulated for public comment, along with a number of other proposed boundary changes in New South Wales and Victoria. I am aware that there is some opposition from the ACCs in Victoria and from some of the Melbourne members about any suggestion that there should be fewer ACCs in Victoria. I will take those comments on board.

It also needs to be remembered that at least one of those ACCs has not produced a single Regional Partnerships project for the entire year. There is no real evidence that the output from the five ACCs in Melbourne has exceeded the output from the one in Brisbane or the one in Sydney. They are the sorts of issues that we have to take into account. I assure the honourable member that his views and those of others will be taken into account when a decision is made.

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