Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government and Minister for the Arts. Will the minister update the House on the most recent round of grants under the Regional Development Australia Fund and how this is being received in regional Australia? Further, why is this fund important to the future of regional communities?

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Page for her question, because I was with her not so long ago in Ballina when we announced one of the very successful initiatives under this program, the biochar plant, which was funded jointly by ourselves and the Ballina Shire Council. Those who sit opposite and talk about the doom and gloom of climate change should listen to this, because this is an initiative that will see landfill converted to energy and to biochar which not only has the capacity to reduce emissions but can create energy through the biochar organic components that can lift the productivity of our agricultural base.

Whilst we were there we also visited Harwood. The member for Herbert who asked a previous question about cane farmers should also be aware of the important work that is being done there to convert sugar refuse into gas.

An opposition member: He's not interested, Simon!

He's not interested—he comes in here and talks about the plight of the sugar industry and is not even prepared to listen to positive initiatives that we are undertaking.

That was one project of 16 that I had the opportunity to visit over the fortnight that this parliament was up. These initiatives not only improve the economic input into the regions but also address social needs as well as the environmental needs, the ones we have just talked about. These projects are important not only in their own right but also in seeing a significant cultural change in the way in which regional development is being done: first, the significance of partnerships; second, the leverage because the funding we have put in has resulted in a multiplier effect of four times; and third, the fact that we have councils and regions being prepared to join the dots. I have used this term before, but I was interested to note the other day that when my shadow, Senator Barnaby Joyce, was speaking to the Local Government Association he used the term 'joining the dots'. He's learning—he's channelling me!

Persistence, though, is also important because 62 per cent of these initiatives were projects that failed the first round. The member for Riverina knows the initiative in Wagga Wagga and he was very proud to come and give me the editorial from the Daily Advertiser, which was ringing our praises for what we did.

I have got them coming into my office asking how they can get access to this program. The trouble is that they want to spend the money, they do not want to fund it, because they have knocked the program— (Time expired)