Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

My second question is also on the Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure Program. I want to ensure that the minister is aware of some of the absolutely valuable additions from the Hinkler electorate to manufacturing. We are the biggest producer of heavy vegetables in Australia. All of our agriculturalists know that farm gate returns are simply not high enough so we need those value-added products to increase not only productivity but the return to our farmers to make them viable. Inside my electorate, Minister, we have opportunities for macadamias and sweet potatoes. We already have organisations like Austchilli with David and Trent De Paoli. They are a major exporter of chilli, basil and avocado products all over the world. These secondary level manufacturers help our local producers.

The other thing the minister may not be aware of is that the Bundaberg port is completely underutilised. The opportunities in Bundaberg and in the Hinkler electorate are quite simple. Land is cheap. We have lots of it. There is a lay-down area in Bundaberg as big as the Brisbane port. We could build container ports, build industry or do anything but we need that seed funding to help those things along. Certainly it is low risk. We are below the Barrier Reef and are in a low cyclone risk area. There are opportunities there.

The Bundaberg Foundry, for example, located in Bundaberg just celebrated 125 years of manufacturing. It is still there but it is under pressure from the carbon tax and from red and green tape. They are struggling. Electricity costs are up $1 million. Minister, if you can name a foundry in Australia that is making $1 million a year, I would be very interested.

The Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure Program is incredibly important. Minister, further to my last question on the government's commitment to industry policy and, more specifically, the delivery of the new Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure Program through the single business service initiative, will you advise what the government is doing to ensure that there is smooth transition from the closure of existing programs to the launch of the new Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure Program? Is there a date by which the program will be functioning? Is the government on track to meet that date? How will businesses, particularly SMEs, interact and gain access to the new Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure Program—businesses like Hervey Bay seafood and the Hervey Bay scallop, who could certainly do with an automated shucking machine even though something that would work functionally has not been built yet? How does this new initiative simplify the process for business to seek support? What has the reaction been from major stakeholders to this budget measure?

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