A MAJORITY LIBERAL GOVERNMENT WILL:
- Partner with UTAS 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 facility
- Expand Strategic Industry Partnership Program with an extra $2 million
- Activate 7.5 hectares of land for the development of more housing
Tasmanian agriculture is the lifeblood of our regional communities, generating jobs and exports, and our premium produce is the envy of the world.
The sector employs more than 7500 Tasmanians and our farmers are the most confident in Australia.
The Tasmanians Liberals have a bold target to reach a farmgate value of $10 billion by 2050, and we are well on track to achieving that with agriculture now worth $1.9 billion at the farmgate, and our processed food value worth around $4.86 billion.
Agriculture, as one of Tasmania’s most important industries, continues to play a significant role in Tasmania’s growing economy.
We recognise that the North, North-East and North-West are the prime locations for agriculture and farming, with approximately 140 DPIPWE employees based in the north and working in Agriculture and Water and Biosecurity Tasmania facilities, including at the DPIPWE animal laboratories at Mt Pleasant.
Now, we will develop a new nation-leading Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct in partnership with the University of Tasmania, to bring together best practice in research, skills and development across industry, government and academia.
In September 2020, the University of Tasmania announced that the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture will be headquartered at the UTAS Newnham Campus in Launceston, as part of its $300 million Northern Transformation Project.
Under a partnership arrangement, the Tasmanian Liberals will invest $15 million into new state-of-the-art research facilities at Newnham, including new shared animal, fish and plant health laboratories, and co-locate all existing DPIPWE northern staff to the new precinct with the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture.
In addition, we will move an additional 50 DPIPWE roles to the north of the State over the next five years.
The new Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct will become the headquarters for both Agriculture and Water, and Biosecurity Tasmania.
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.
The move into the Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct will result in 7.5 hectares of land – the equivalent of up to 100 building lots - at Mt Pleasant being available (subject to appropriate re-zoning of the land planning approval) for private, affordable and social housing.
Under the Liberals, Tasmania will become the first place in Australia to co-locate agricultural science, water management, industry development and biosecurity in a single agricultural precinct.
Current work underway right now:
- Investing $150 million through our comprehensive Agri-Food Plan 2019-2023 “Grow, Make, Protect”.
- $7 million over three years to upgrade our public research farms including working with the fruit industry to examine the feasibility of the Grove Station to support industry led horticulture research and development.
- $1.9 million Agricultural Workforce Resilience Package.
- $28 million over five years to the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture.
- Supporting farming families and rural communities through
- Rural Youth, and Women in Agriculture programs
- Increased funding for Rural Financial Counselling and their Farm Business Mentoring Program
- Increased core funding for Rural Alive and Well
Our record in Government:
- $30 million to continue our nation-leading irrigation pipeline
- $169 million towards a third tranche of Tasmanian irrigation schemes, in partnership with the Australian Government
- $1 million over five years for Agricultural Show development grants.
- $16 million more investment into our school farms
- $5 million investment into the TasTAFE Agricultural Centre of Excellence
- $4.2 million to work on practical industry development strategies to improve productivity and profitability through the supply chain, including red meat, dairy, wine, fruit and vegetable, honey, hemp and organics
- $860,000 over four years for two extra AgriGrowth Liaison Officers
- Delivering the skills our agriculture sector needs, including –
- scholarships for apprentices and traineeships in the North-West;
- working with Primary Employees Tas on wool handling skills and training; and
- a school-based cadetship program in partnership with Rural Business Tasmania.
Labor-Green record:
Labor and the Greens have opposed:
- The Government’s relocation of DPIPWE jobs to the north of the State.
- Workplace protection laws, which were supported by the industry.
Costings:
$15 million – capital investment
$2 million – over 4 years