Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

As I indicated, $45 million has been allocated specifically to tourism projects—an effective doubling of available infrastructure investment that was previously dedicated and targeted towards tourism infrastructure investment. Applicants will not only have access to greater funds in terms of investment in that tourism infrastructure but enjoy a better process, one that applies consistently across the whole nation rather than different state-by-state processes, and an assessment against consistent merit criteria. Applicants will not be limited by predetermined state funding allocations. The BBRF will provide more flexibility and will support the best projects that will drive tourism growth and create jobs in regional Australia, without the constraints of those state or regional borders. For those applicants who might be dreaming big, the maximum funding grant available is some $10 million—a significant increase on what applicants could receive under previous programs. And there's strong potential to support major infrastructure works that would not otherwise be possible—infrastructure works that can only continue to help our tourism sector to grow into the future.

Th e PRESIDENT: Senator McGrath, a final supplementary question.