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

I suppose the one underlying factor that differentiates Orange from the other places that were identified in the list I just gave is that the New South Wales department of agriculture is already located in Orange, and, given the other departments and institutions that are located in Orange, it was considered that there was already a significant hub of existing activity that the RIC would be able to support in creating the centre of excellence in Orange.

It is probably also worth pointing out that a number of the other locations that were considered have had agencies of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources relocated there as part of the government's overall decentralisation program, including the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. There have been a number of agencies that have been moved to some of the other locations that were highlighted by Minister Joyce in announcing this particular proposal, so our overall policy of decentralisation is supporting a number of regional communities.