Jump to Content

Transcript of interview with Prue Bentley on ABC Radio Victoria Statewide drive

16 September 2010
SCT004/2010

PRUE BENTLEY: Mr Simon Crean, welcome to the program.

SIMON CREAN: Hi, Prue, how are you?

PRUE BENTLEY: Very well. Does the portfolio that you are now in double up in any areas, do you think? We have had some concern expressed on this program since the Regional Affairs portfolio was announced that perhaps, though it may be a one-stop shop, it may then stop regional advocacy bodies or lobby groups actually heading to the different portfolio areas that they might want to get to directly, for example health or agriculture. How will this actually work?

SIMON CREAN: Well, I think it shouldn't stop that ongoing lobbying, you know, Prue. I mean, they've established that. But I think people need to see this as a new dimension in what's being referred to as the new paradigm, that we very much are trying to encourage not just a focus for the lobbying in Canberra but a more - a greater requirement for Canberra to have regard to regional input on an ongoing basis, not just when the Budget comes up, not just when there's a particular issue that they want to promote, that we engage localism in the way in which we govern. Now, we have all these structures around the country, the regional development bodies. I would like to see them - and I think this new opportunity presents itself for the first time in our lifetime, and that's why we've got to get it right - the opportunity for those voices to put forward within their strategic plan the way in which they want the money spent.

We're also going to breakdown the Federal Budget so that regions will be able to see for the first time what they get in the areas of health and education and aged care, all of those sorts of things, so there will be greater transparency. We hope to encourage a more free-flowing presentation of priorities, strategic plans and encourage the regions to not just have a better voice but to look for more creative, efficient ways in which the services can be delivered, in a lot of cases.

PRUE BENTLEY: How do you propose that will work when you are covering the entire country? I mean, it's a big area and rural and regional are some fairly, I suppose, big ideas.

Places like Gippsland will have a completely different need to somewhere like Alice Springs or somebody in Western Australia. How do you actually try and deal with those differing and sometimes opposing needs?

SIMON CREAN: Well, we have to deal with them, Prue - that's the whole point - because one size doesn't fit all. And this has been the problem at times, that there's been a tendency to say, here's a pot of money, let's allocate this here, that there, et cetera. Canberra doesn't always know what's best, but Canberra has the resources. What we really need to do is to recognise that diversity that you've referred to and encourage the regions not to compete against each other, so much as to compete more effectively for their resource entitlement and look at creative ways in which they can spend it better. We want to encourage regions to strengthen that diversity, to understand the opportunities going forward. They're best placed to work out what they see as their future, what does that mean in terms of skills development. In turn, what does that mean for how you invest in the education institutions - the unis, the TAFEs, the schools - to deliver those sorts of skills. What do you need by way of the diversity of the region in terms of the most efficient delivery of health services. And, of course, the great opportunity going forward to deliver a lot of these services, Prue, is going to be our commitment to invest in the National Broadband Network because that will give connectivity to, and strengthened opportunity in things like education and health and e-commerce.This is the exciting opportunity going forward, but we really have to find a much better way to recognise the diversity, not try and equalise, but strengthen that diversity.

PRUE BENTLEY: What exactly is your role with regard to the NBN?

SIMON CREAN: Obviously, we will - just like health, just like education, the prioritisation if you look at the agreements is to reorder the way in which we look at the NBN. So there will have to be input into that. There'll have to be input into the way in which the money allocated to health goes to the regions; the same with education. So the way we do that is through a Cabinet subcommittee that I will chair. What we have to get is better coordination internally. But in addition to the Cabinet process, we will be establishing a Parliamentary committee in the House of Representatives, chaired by one of the Independents, that will operate much like the Senate Estimates process. So before the - at the Parliament, at the committee in the Parliament, there would be required to be the appearance of ministers, the public servants who administer the various portfolios. We then, as I said earlier, would require the Department of Finance to break the Budget down so that each region knows what it gets. I hope that what we can move to is a circumstance in which once we get this up and running, we can produce the concept of My Region on the website, so that people who live in regions, who have got interests in regions, want to know what the issues are, what the services available, what the resources go into can look at it, be better informed about what's going into the region, but at the same time know that through the Regional Development bodies, they have a voice that has to work with council, has to work with Local Government, has to work up to Federal Government, but an effective voice to really channel the local strategic direction going forward.

PRUE BENTLEY: So at the policy level, this could effectively act as another arm to the relevant portfolios, like communications, like health.

SIMON CREAN: And another arm, but effectively coordination. You wouldn't want to have a separate funding mechanism. What you'd say is proportionately or in terms of the agreements, this amount of money is available for the regions, and then encourage the regions to look at the most effective way in which, which is allocated to their region, should be spent.

PRUE BENTLEY: So that would mean that your - in your portfolio, your voice would need to be heard before any of these other policies actually come to fruition?

SIMON CREAN: Well, I - whether it's before or after, all I'm saying is in terms - take for example the Budget and the preparation in the lead up to COAG, the Council of Australian Governments, where we're dealing with the health solution. It may well be that the initiative in terms of what's needed for health starts with the health portfolio, but when the money, if you like, the vote, the bucket of money is determined, there would have to be coordination and involvement from the regional committee of Cabinet as to how that - as to how the monies would be allocated to the regions.

PRUE BENTLEY: It's coming up to a quarter past four on ABC Statewide Drive. This afternoon, we're joined by Simon Crean, who is the Member for Hotham and also the new Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government, Regional Development and Minister for the Arts. If you'd like to ask a question, you can. 1300 303 468. You can text us on 197 22 842.

Mr Crean, Craig has sent in a question on Facebook, and he asks about regional development, building up small towns. Will that be a focus of the portfolio?

SIMON CREAN: Yes, it will. And again, it is this question of the regions themselves, looking at where the growth opportunities are, where the structural adjustment mechanisms are, where regions that are affected by decline are, and what can be done to help them diversify their economic base. So the opportunity for the portfolio to not just be responsible for it is more the argument about how you tap the local knowledge, how you draw on the local experience with people in the regions coming up with their solutions. So I'd say to Craig, in circumstances of the town in particular that he has regard for, what does he think of the opportunities going forward?

I don't want people coming forward with just a wish list. I want them coming forward with constructive proposals that say, were we able to achieve this sort of support we believe we could move in this direction? Let's test that, let's see how it stacks up. But basically, have us responding to quality initiatives that stack up coming from the local areas.

PRUE BENTLEY: Just finally, if I may, Mr Crean, one of the key issues that came out of this federal election campaign for many of the regions across Victoria was this issue of pork barrelling and in particular, with regional and rural roads. I just had a text in, asking whether a federal takeover of road funding could actually happen under this particular portfolio, and could it stop pork barrelling at the key election time?

SIMON CREAN: Well, of course, you can't have the federal takeover because you have to deal through the states, and the states have important appropriations, important spends that they allocate the roads. What the aim would be, obviously, is to get much more effective coordination to those roads and those pieces of infrastructure that really improve the competitiveness as well as the infrastructure that is being run down. As for the question of the pork barrelling, what we want to stop is the pork barrelling, Prue. Regions should never be put in a position in which the only time they can ever look to something is around election time and only if they're marginal.

What we have to do is to take the pork barrelling out, establish a mechanism by which people develop their long-term strategic view, and then prioritise the issues within it. And keep making the point, these are our priorities, this is how we want them addressed, and from them, beyond the cycle of government, so that it doesn't get caught up in the election context. We want to really strengthen and sustain the viability of regions, recognise that diversity that we talked about much earlier in the program, encourage the local empowerment and do it in a way that can't be unpicked and doesn't just become subject to the political whims of parties when they come into election. If we entrench this approach properly as the way in which we do government, it won't be unpicked, it will become embedded in our political process, and that will be great, not only for the regions, but I think it will produce much more effective outcomes for the nation as a whole.

PRUE BENTLEY: Good to talk to you today, Mr Crean. I know that you have many other things on your plate this afternoon, but we really appreciate your time.

SIMON CREAN: My pleasure, Prue. Good to talk.

PRUE BENTLEY: Simon Crean is the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development, Local Government and also the Minister for the Arts.


Print 
Last Updated: 22 September, 2010