Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Brown. It was remiss of me—I failed to respond to the final part of your previous question. The Australian government, as this chamber would be well aware, has a very strong commitment to rural and regional Australia, and the decision made by the government to locate the Regional Investment Corporation outside our capital cities is clearly consistent with that policy. I don't know whether you've spent much time in Orange, but Orange is a really important agricultural hub in this country. It's well serviced by transport links to the major capital cities, particularly Sydney. We are seeing an extraordinary increase in growth in this community and the relocation of a number of New South Wales government departments to Orange, creating a very strong rural and regional agricultural hub in that community. The decision to locate this organisation in Orange is extraordinarily consistent with the government policy to establish strong regional centres across the whole of Australia.