Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

Could I thank the senator for her question. All organisations from Greater Western Sydney which submitted expressions of interest for round 4 of the Regional Development Australia Fund have been invited to submit a full application. All RDA committees have selected three projects to proceed to full application. An additional 17 from Greater Western Sydney were invited on—I think it was—Thursday 7 March this year to submit a full application.

The Australian and New South Wales governments are negotiating a memorandum of understanding to support economic growth and improve liveability in Greater Western Sydney. To ensure that all projects are considered within the framework of this new agreement, all organisations from Greater Western Sydney which submitted an expression of interest for round 4 have been invited to progress to the next stage of the application process.

Projects will be considered for funding from RDAF and any other opportunities which may arise. All applications for RDAF, including those from Greater Western Sydney, will be assessed for eligibility and considered on their merits by an independent advisory panel.

The department of regional Australia and local government grants were announced to proceed to the next stage on, I think, 13 February—and as I have said, that is now just giving you some historical context—and since then, circumstances in Greater Western Sydney have changed. The New South Wales and Australian governments, as I have indicated, have established a memorandum of understanding. Australia is a nation of regions. Peri-urban and outer metropolitan areas are critical to our regional network. Metropolitan centres, peri-urban regions and outer metropolitan centres—