Coulton’s Catch-up 26th September
26-September-2011
The Regional Development Australia Fund (RDAF) was established by the Minister for Regional Australia Simon Crean with the intention of distributing funding to priority projects in regional Australia. It is a $1 billion funding pool that would direct funding right to the heart of regional communities through projects that are put forward by the communities themselves because of their potential social and economic outcomes.
The list of the successful applicants for the first round of the RDAF was recently released and it was evident that despite the promise of increasing funding to regional Australia, this Government is more concerned about paying-off their fellow Labor Members and the so called Independent members that put them into Government. The allocation of funding for round one has made a mockery of Minister Crean's vow to stamp out pork barrelling.
In NSW alone, seven of the nine projects funded were located in a seat held by Labor MP’s, and in Victoria four out of five projects were also awarded to Government MPs. Of the total $199 million allocated so far through the RDAF, $135 million has been allocated to Labor and Independent electorates, despite Labor holding only one third of regional seats.
Local Parkes electorate groups submitted substantial applications to the RDA. It is preposterous that although the Parkes electorate spans over 36% of NSW not one single dollar from the RDAF was allocated to this very “regional” electorate.
For instance in Coonamble, the project submitted was a covered area for the Coonamble Rodeo Ground. It has been designed by the engineering department of a university in Sydney and would give Coonamble a facility to attract year-round equestrian events. There was also the Lightning Ridge Opal and Fossil Centre, which would have been not only a magnificent centre for Lightning Ridge, New South Wales and Australia but would also be the premier opal centre in the world. The Opal and Fossil Centre would be a unique tourist attraction where opals could be purchased. However, these significant projects were completely ignored.
The hype from by the Government and the Independent members that there was going to be an increased flow of funding to regional Australia has not been matched by reality. There is an underlying sense of disenchantment from the people of regional Australia. The Government’s definition of regional Australia is also somewhat skewed. We saw $480 million awarded to Perth Airport to upgrade roads surrounding the airport and in round one of the RDAF, Newcastle received $7 million for the redevelopment of their art gallery.
The Government has stated time and time again that they are the champions for regional Australia. This could not be further from the truth. Once again this Gillard Government has proven that it is all about looking after its own backyard and has shown scant regard for regional and rural communities.