AGRICULTURE Minister David Littleproud on Thursday opened the new Regional Investment Corporation headquarters in Orange.
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Milling around before the formalities, many in the audience agreed the opening was the next step in establishing Orange as a powerhouse of agricultural lending and a regional financial services hub.
The RIC - which offers loans to farmers for drought recovery and drought preparedness, and on a grander scale, to state or territory governments for major water infrastructure projects - began operating on July 1 last year from temporary Canberra offices.
On Thursday it moved to its full-time base.
Calare MP Andrew Gee said it made sense for the RIC to be based in country Australia, because country Australians were who it existed to serve.
He said that it was based in Orange was a clear indication of the government's committment to decentralisation.
"We must remember that agriculture pulled us through the GFC (global financial crisis)," he said.
Mr Gee said the concessional loans being offered by the RIC had already been matched by one major commercial bank and that meant the corporation's presence was already being felt in the market.
Mr Littleproud acknowledged the RIC was the brainchild of his predecessor Barnaby Joyce, who would dearly have loved to preside at the opening, but didn't last the distance.
"He called me and said 'just don't stuff it up', then hung up," said Mr Littleproud.
He said the merit of the corporation was obvious in that there had been 340 applications from across the country and internationally for 32 positions to work for the RIC.
RIC national water infrastructure manager Gavin Owens, a highly qualified civil engineer who has worked internationally, is making his first foray into government service, having spent his career in the private sector.
He said he Australia had to manage its water better.
"We must do the best we can, building dams is only one option, we must consider every drop of this precious resource."
He said recycling what we already have and desalination plants would be on the RIC's radar.
Mr King said the blend of private and public sector experience in the team would enable it to move swiftly when needed.
Having come from nothing to where the RIC stands today was unprecedented in government, he said.
There are no major infrastructure works on the corporation's books at the moment, but it has approved $26 million of lending since last year.
Finance manager Rebecca Houlihan has moved from the Department of Industry to the RIC, and has been based in Orange for the past four years.
"We have achieved a lot in a very short period of time," she said.
"The most important thing is that when we do something, it must be done properly."
She said Orange was well placed to become a regional financial services hub, as it already has good access to financial services.
