REGIONAL ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
1355. Hon JACQUI BOYDELL to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to an article published by
WAtoday on 25 November, titled ''Prison officer suspended over fraud
allegations gets $100 000 government grant for Pilbara tours''.
(1) Will the minister explain the due diligence
process for local development commissions and the government when checking the accountability and credibility
of the applicants for regional economic development grants?
(2) Given that
the application is now in doubt, what will happen to the $100 000 allocated
grant money if it is not given to the original recipient?
(3) Given that
the role of the local development commissions is to bring the element of local
knowledge and content to the process, and
that there was media coverage of this issue prior to the grant round closing,
yet the issue was still missed, will the minister undertake to restoring
development commissions' staffing to levels that will allow them to
undertake their role more effectively?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the
question.
(1) Applications for regional economic development
grants require applicants to provide details of all partners, directors and senior management of the business
that is applying for a grant. In this instance, a sole director was
listed and this was not the person referred to in the WAtoday article.
Accountability and credibility of the listed applicants is determined using
local knowledge and, when relevant, credit checks are also undertaken. In the Pilbara, the assessment of
applications involves up to three assessors providing comment on the
suitability of the project and proponent. The full application, as well as an
overview of the project and recommendations from assessors are then presented
to the board of the commission for final approval.
(2) Any
unallocated grant funds are made available for future RED grant rounds. We now
understand that Ms Van Den Berg had stood down from the management of the
company prior to the commission or me becoming aware of the charges. I note
that the project was assessed very highly by the commission for its potential economic benefits, including
long-term tourism jobs for Aboriginal people on the Burrup Peninsula.
(3) Applications
for round 3 of the RED grants closed on 7 July and the assessment of
applications began on 8 July. The commission is unaware of any media reports
naming the person identified in the article prior to 12 August. There are currently eight staff in the commission's
Karratha office, which is similar to staffing levels under the previous
government. The member will be aware that under the previous government, many
of the Pilbara Development Commission staff were based in Perth. I note the
commission's recent stakeholder survey with over 100 responses showing
very positive results across all indicators, suggesting it is well engaged and
well regarded in the Pilbara.