The South Australian Opposition spokesman for regional development, Steven Griffiths, says reducing red tape will help regional communities to thrive.

Mr Griffiths has spent the past two days in the Riverland, meeting local government representatives and business owners.

He says he wants to make it easier for businesses to get approval for projects that diversify the region.

“My great fear is that in higher levels there’s such an attitude of risk management that it means you become risk averse and you don’t say yes enough, so for us it’s about saying to the people who support South Australia, so the public service, that we want you to be excited by opportunities,” he said.

He says there is plenty of opportunity to improve communication between regional businesses.

“Is it mentoring from a Government department to help their idea become a true one or is it some dollar support that needs to exist to do that also,?” he said.

“Is it creating linkages between what we know exists in other regions to mentor what could potentially happen in the Riverland? It’s about all those linkages.”