A re-elected majority Gutwein Liberal Government will create a nation-leading Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct in Launceston as part of our Plan to Secure Tasmania’s future.

Tasmania’s agriculture industry is the lifeblood of our regional communities, employing more than 7500 Tasmanians and we have a bold target to reach a farm gate value of $10 billion by 2050.

A majority Gutwein Liberal Government will:

• Partner with the University of Tasmania to create a new nation-leading Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct in Launceston, with a satellite hub in Hobart;
• Invest $15 million for state-of-the-art research facilities;
• Move an additional 50 DPIPWE roles to the new northern facilities;
• Expand the Strategic Industry Partnership Program with an extra $2 million; and
• Activate 7.5 hectares of land for the development of more housing.

Our new Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct will be based at Newnham alongside the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Agriculture.

Under the partnership agreement with UTAS, the Tasmanian Liberals will invest $15 million in new research facilities including new shared animal, fish and plant health laboratories, as well as co-locate 140 existing DPIPWE Northern staff to the new precinct.

Tasmania will be the first jurisdiction in Australia to co-locate agricultural science, water management, industry development and bio-security functions in a single precinct.

The creation of the Precinct and co-location of 140 DPIPWE staff will allow DPIPWE to activate 7.5 hectares of land in Mount Pleasant – the equivalent of up to 100 building lots - for private, affordable and social housing for Tasmanians.

Development of the new Precinct will also support the move of a further 50 DPIPWE roles to the North over the next five years.

In addition, we will also extend the Strategic Industry Partnership Program with a further $2 million over four years, leveraging the skills and experience of the new Agricultural Precinct.

This policy is further supported by our existing commitment to invest $7 million over 3 years to upgrade our public research farms, including leveraging $1 million of those funds to work with the fruit industry to support industry led horticulture research, development and extension.

The North, North East and North West are prime locations for agriculture and farming and the Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct at Newnham will bring together the world’s best practice in one place, with continued services provided in the South for our plentiful Southern farming and agriculture sector.

The transformative Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct will support our critical agricultural industry and only a majority Gutwein Liberal Government has the plan to deliver this as part of Securing Tasmania’s future.

The Agriculture policy can be viewed here.