Wilson frustrated by long Growing Regions wait, minister says grants to be ‘awarded on merit’ in due course

O’Connor MP Rick Wilson has hit out at the Federal Government for continuing to make regions wait for funding, months on from Growing Regions Program round-one applications closing. Local governments and community groups hoping to secure funds through the $600 million GRP had to navigate a two-stage application process. The deadline for stage-two applications was on January 15, but three months on there has been no announcement from Federal Regional Development Minister Catherine King. Official guidelines for the program indicate successful applicants must begin their projects by May 15, which is now less than a month away. The City of Albany submitted two applications to the program, one of which would support an upgrade of the Albany Regional Airport, while the other would develop the Restoring Places; Kinjarling Djinung Maat project. Southern Aboriginal Corporation had also signalled an intention to apply for funding to develop the Kairli Cultural and Language Centre on vacant land it owns between Anzac Peace Park and the Albany Entertainment Centre. The Shire of Denmark applied to fund the Ocean Beach redevelopment. On Monday, Mr Wilson said the Federal Government had “imposed a two-year funding drought on regional communities” and he had written many letters of support for projects. “Labor promised programs to support the regions, but after almost two years there is nothing to show for it,” he said. “Federal ministers are sitting on grants programs, refusing to part with money promised for the regions, choosing instead to hoard the cash to prop up the budget surplus in Canberra.” In response, Ms King said the Albanese Government remained committed to “strengthening rural and regional Australia”. “Which is why we’re rolling out record funding to support local governments to deliver priority road and community infrastructure projects,” she said. She said the GRP, in addition to the Regional Precincts and Partnerships program, would invest $1 billion into regional communities, “with grants awarded on merit”. “Mr Wilson should take the time to read the Auditor General’s damning report into the Coalition’s Building Better Regions Fund to understand why new programs needed to be developed,” she said. The GRP was announced to replace the BBRF, which was discontinued in October 2022. It committed $600 million to be allocated over two rounds for eligible regional projects through a competitive application process. Local government and not-for-profit organisations can secure between $500,000 and $15m in contributions for their projects. Mr Wilson said local governments throughout his electorate had worked hard to complete initial applications within a 20-day window, but the Albanese Government had “failed to complete project assessments in 250 days”. He said regional local governments were being left uncertain about funding while trying to finalise the budgets for the upcoming financial year. “All projects applied for from the O’Connor electorate stand to improve the lives of regional people and make regional shires, cities and towns more attractive places to visit, and hence help to strengthen regional economies,” he said. “Not all projects are likely to get up under round one of the program, but every proposal I have seen from O’Connor has merit, and the communities that developed them deserve timely advice so they can get on with developing their budgets.”