I speak on the report of the Committee on Investment, Industry and Regional Development entitledPerformance of the Regional Investment Activation Fund and the Regional Job Creation Fund. I acknowledge the secretariat staff for their hard work, as well as the chair, the member for Barwon, and the other committee members. It was a pleasure to work with them all. The Government's $110 million Regional Investment Activation Fund was designed to provide co-investment for projects to activate new industries and drive productivity in regional New South Wales. The $240 million Regional Job Creation Fund aimed to support regional investment and job creation by providing co-funding to regional projects.

Following the Government's expenditure review in April 2023, both funds were ceased. In April 2024 the Government announced that from 1 July 2024 the Department of Regional NSW would be renamed the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Therefore, whilst the body of the report refers to the Department of Regional NSW, the recommendations are directed to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. The inquiry received 39 submissions from businesses, local councils, joint organisations, member associations, government agencies and members of the public. The inquiry highlighted where improvements in the design and administration of those two funds could have helped to make them more effective.

The committee visited Wagga Wagga, Beaumont and Junee, and we visited companies that had received the funds and those whose applications had been rejected. We heard from businesses, councils and members of the public. We also heard from 20 individual witnesses during public hearings held in Sydney and Wagga Wagga. Lessons were learnt so that future programs can be better targeted. For example, inflexible program guidelines, exclusion criteria, poor communication and red tape impacted the effectiveness of the programs. Whilst previous committee members have spoken about the fact that a lot of time was put into those submissions and that there may have been some job creation, there were also a lot of people who spent a lot of time on submissions that did not work out for them and they were bitterly disappointed. They did not understand why they could not get funding. That was disappointing.

Most applications to Regional Job Creation Fund rounds one and two were from existing regional growth hubs, such as Wagga Wagga and coastal areas such as Central Coast and Lake Macquarie. The committee noted that the job creation benefits were measured based on estimated data not actual data, which was disappointing. To better understand the impact on job creation and retention, the committee recommended the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development going forward collect both estimated and actual data of job creation and retention. The inquiry has highlighted where improvements in the design and administration of those two funds could have helped make them more effective. Again, I thank the parliamentary secretariat staff for their assistance with organising the regional visits, accommodation, transport and witnesses. I thank all of those who made submissions and attended the inquiry. For those watching, the report can be now found on the New South Wales Parliament website.