Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table a statement by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Mr Albanese, and I seek leave to incorporate the statement in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

Today I am announcing one of the Australian government’s initiatives to help drive economic prosperity in regional Australia and deliver on our commitments that we made in the lead-up to the election.

One of our key regional election commitments was that area consultative committees (ACCs) would provide the basis for the creation of Regional Development Australia (RDA).

Consistent with this commitment, today the government announces that area consultative committees will transition to become local Regional Development Australia committees. As a first step, the ACC Chairs Reference Group will become the RDA Interim Board until 31 December 2008. I have spoken to the chair of that reference group today and he has very much welcomed this announcement, as have the ACC representatives who are here in the parliament for this debate.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia, Gary Gray, and I will convene a meeting with the interim board to discuss the transition of the ACC network to RDA, including the development of a charter for Regional Development Australia and its proposed responsibilities. We shall also want to discuss with the interim board ways of ensuring closer ties with the local government sector. Regional Australia’s communities and economy will benefit from a closer relationship between the new Regional Development Australia and the local government sector.

The ACC network was established by the previous Labor government in 1994 under the Employment Services Act 1994. ACCs originally provided advice and generated support for labour market programs. Over time their role has evolved and recently their primary role has been to promote and identify projects and assist in the development of applications for the Regional Partnerships program.

There are 54 ACCs across Australia, which are not-for-profit, community based organisations. Hundreds of Australians give their time to serve their communities as members of area consultative committees. Only the chairs and their deputies are appointed by the government. Committee members are volunteers from all walks of life: businesspeople, farmers, retirees, local government representatives and educators. They are united by their commitment to their local communities. They are a valuable source of local knowledge and advice for government. Some have been more effective than others and there is a need to recognise that regional development requires a reform of existing advisory structures.

The new Regional Development Australia network will build on the success of its predecessor, but will take on a much broader role to develop strategic input into national programs to improve the coordination of regional development initiatives and to ensure that there is effective engagement with local communities. The Rudd government is committed to listening to communities and the Regional Development Australia organisations will assist that process.

The actual roles and responsibilities of Regional Development Australia will reflect our consultations. I am confident that the interim board will have ideas to present to the government. The role of individual RDAs and the network as a whole could provide advice to government on a range of issues. These include:

• advise on community infrastructure;
• advise on regional issues and opportunities;
• advise on local implementation of specific Commonwealth initiatives in the region, as requested;
• facilitate economic development planning and investment attraction;
• identify any unique local attributes that would favour the development of new and innovative industries;
• promote initiatives to retain and expand skills and local businesses and industries;
• disseminate information about Commonwealth programs;
• undertake ad hoc consultations on behalf of federal agencies where a regional network is required;
• advise on adequacy of service delivery in regions;
• build networks and relationships with other levels of government and key stakeholders in the region;
• advise government on social inclusion issues; and
• advise on ways to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and coordination of Commonwealth regional initiatives.

I am looking forward to working with Regional Development Australia and receiving valuable advice on the development needs of regional Australia. The time frame will of course conclude this year, which is why we are maintaining the existing interim board, and I am pleased the chair has committed to active participation in this.

To conclude, this government’s new vision for regional Australia is based on building partnerships to ensure the government is responsive to local priorities and needs, but is underpinned by major new investments in the areas of infrastructure, broadband, housing, health care, education, skills development, innovation and water.

The message to regional communities is clear—this government will work with you to make your solutions work. We will bring fresh ideas and a new approach which will harness the potential of our regions and develop them for a better future.

Today’s announcement relating to the establishment of Regional Development Australia is the first in a number of initiatives of the Rudd Labor government that we will make in terms of regional development.

We will strengthen and invest in the future of regional Australia.

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I rise to make some comments in regard to the ministerial statement on Regional Development Australia. I take this opportunity to thank the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government for recognising regional Australia through his statement. I am particularly pleased the government will be continuing with the process of the area consultative committee network, even though I concede it is getting—as with many things when government changes—a name change.

It should be pointed out that the area consultative committee network has done an absolutely outstanding job, particularly in developing a network across all of the areas that it covers. They have made an outstanding contribution to the development of regional Australia, particularly through prioritising. Everybody understands there are never unlimited funds in government, and it is just fantastic to see a process where people will, from a grassroots level, identify those programs and projects that are closest to the hearts of those communities.

I am concerned, as I am sure are many senators, that the area consultative committees not be allowed to go into some sort of hibernation mode while the interim arrangements, consultations and reviews are taking place. I understand that the circumstances at the moment are that the area consultative committees, or parts of them, will remain in place until December 2008. As I said, certainly many senators on this side are concerned that the work that they do continues. It is absolutely vital that their work continues.

The reason that we are a little concerned is that, I understand, no projects have received funding since the government took office. When projects are approved applicants are notified of the success of the proposal. Disturbingly, their actually entering into contractual discussions with the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has been put on hold. Communities have an expectation that there is going to some sort of outcome. There are obviously contractors and people within those communities that are putting their best foot forward for some of the work and some of the funding. People have an expectation that proposals they have worked so hard for are in fact going to be funded.

We always look for signs in a new government, and the fact that they have been put on hold is hardly a sign of a committed government—one who stops all progress for nearly six months. Time and effort, and in many cases significant funding, have already been put into getting these proposals up and ready. Again, because of the commitment of the ACCs and all of their staff and the significant effort that has been put in by entire communities, it is simply unfair of the Rudd government to keep these people hanging around for some sort of answer whilst it continues to conduct another review.

The minister has stated that the message to regional communities is clear. This is one of the key statements: ‘This government will work with you to make your solutions work.’ Predictably, Labor’s actions again appear to have fallen well short of their rhetoric—just another example of the government being prepared to say whatever they need to say to get elected. But it seems that when the rubber hits the road there is not a lot of traction. Perhaps we should have taken slightly more seriously the fairly prophetic remarks of the member for Kingsford Smith during the election that once Labor won and got in they were just going to change everything.

Already the Minister for Finance and Deregulation has gutted Regional Partnerships by announcing that the government will be cutting the coalition’s Growing Regions program by $145 million. The Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia, Gary Gray, has been telling people that the government will be further slashing the Regional Partnerships program tonight, and we will be watching very carefully. It is vital that the new Regional Development Australia network is adequately funded; otherwise it is in danger of becoming nothing else but a rubber stamp.

I notice that regional Australia was a government pre-election commitment, and I remind the house of another pre-election commitment made by the then Leader of the Opposition in Perth on Friday, 16 November, in relation to the approvals process of the Regional Partnerships program. The Prime Minister, then as Leader of the Opposition, was asked in an interview:

Mr Rudd, can you explain your position on how you would administer the Regional Partnerships Program? Surely if you’re really serious about total independence you’d take it right out of the hands of a minister and the minister has no say in it?

And today’s Prime Minister said:

... it must pass through three stages—

he was very clear about this and he is a very articulate individual, and I will commend him for making this so clear—

Number one: for anything to be considered by us under this program, it would need to have the endorsement of either a) the local council; b) the local area consultative committee; or c) the State government.

No problems. He went on to say:

Secondly, it would need to form part of that community’s local economic or community infrastructure ...

Fair enough. He went on to say:

... and thirdly it would then need to pass the departmental seal of approval in order for it to proceed.

The obvious question from the journalist:

So ministers wouldn’t be able to overturn the recommendations of the department, is that what you’re saying?

The Prime Minister said:

According to the three stage process I’ve outlined, absolutely.

So he has ruled that out completely. We there have, prior to the election, the then Leader of the Opposition, now Prime Minister, categorically saying that he will make sure that the department is the final arbiter of Regional Partnerships—in effect, that ministers are not going to interfere in this stuff at all and those processes will be adhered to.

I do not understand how it is then, given the Prime Minister has said the department is the final arbiter of these programs, that the $2.6 million dead tree project at Barcaldine is going to be funded. That is right: the pet project from those on the other side, the Tree of Knowledge, a project which I understand was rejected by the minister’s department, is now going to be funded against departmental advice. That involves the second undertaking of that little tranche of undertakings—that it would be the department only; ministers would not intervene. But I will take you to the second part—and I am not sure about this; perhaps it is for the house to decide—which is that this dead tree would need to form part of that community’s local, economic or community infrastructure. Perhaps I do not know enough about that particular tree, but I would have thought that was a fairly tenuous grasp of the second aspect.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We’ll bump up the Labor vote there!

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have got interjections from the other side: something about bumping up the Labor vote. I will not take that interjection because perhaps I will get the sway of it wrong. Perhaps the other side need to recognise that there are a number of people who are confused by this matter and perhaps they could explain it to the members of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, who are patiently waiting for notification of whether this government is going to match the $600,000 that they have raised themselves to fit out a medical centre to expand this vital service to rural and regional Australia. So we have got a problem: we have got a Labor Tree of Knowledge and we have got people in the outback. Suddenly, one of these projects manages to push through all the processes and gets through.

It is going to be absolutely pointless, if we have a new Regional Development Australia board and a network, if the ideas and advice are never implemented. It does not matter that we have again had: ‘Core election promises will never be broken’—that has been shattered on a number of issues. But, clearly, we have an evidentiary trail to say that the Prime Minister was not fair dinkum when he said, ‘I’m going to stick to this promise.’ It was some other sort of promise, but let us leave all that aside. This is not going to work if the advice and the ideas are never going to be implemented, simply because we do not recognise the importance of rural and regional Australia. It is the boiler room of the economy of Australia, and we need to ensure that funding is adequate, timely and in response to a whole suite of advice that can only be provided through the area consultative committee network.

It is absolutely essential that the network survives with the new government—I recognise that these things change. This has been an outstanding program that was put in place by the previous government and, over a great deal of time, it has improved the worth of those people in rural and regional Australia. So, despite the duplicity of the Prime Minister and those opposite in terms of the election promise, we support the broad intent of the government’s plans for Regional Development Australia. Whilst not completely endorsing it, we are looking forward very much to some of the details later on.

Question agreed to.