Budget 2010-11: Commitment to agriculture welcomed, Gardiner

Author: Philip Gardiner
Published on: 20-May-2010

Member for the Agricultural Region, Hon Philip Gardiner MLC, has welcomed the increased investment in Western Australia’s agriculture and food, announced today in the 2010-11 State Budget, describing it as an indication of the Government’s commitment to the sector.

Budget appropriation for agriculture and food has increased by $12 million to $176 million meaning the Liberal-National Government had boosted its funding commitment to the sector by more than 10 per cent over the past two years, recognising its essential contribution to the State’s economy.

“I’m particularly pleased with the emphasis on modernising agriculture through a focus on innovation, new technology application and recognition of new systems,” Mr Gardiner said.

“The investment of $30 million over three years to construct a world-class export grains research centre at Murdoch is an exciting innovation, as is the ‘New Crops for New Climate Environments’ project.”

This project will include Government investment of $9.05 million over four years, including $3 million towards infrastructure in Merredin and Katanning to evaluate the use of genetically modified (GM) crops in varying climates. This will take GM well beyond the current limited Roundup Ready application that Mr Gardiner says exposes increased risk of herbicide resistance to glyphosate.

Additionally, a total of $13.1 million has been allocated over the next four years for new agriculture and food initiatives including:

• $3.6 million for the ‘Bridging the Yield Gap’ grains project to provide growers with information and solutions to boost grain yields and deliver an extra two million tonnes in higher rainfall areas;
  
• $3.2 million to improve the Department’s innovation and economic analysis capability to support and increase the impact of local, national and international innovations on the value of agriculture and food businesses.
  
• $2.2 million for the Market Access project to underpin export gains for the industry by improving market access opportunities for new products and safe export to meet market requirements;
   
• $600,000 for the WA Beef Stocktake response incorporating projects to improve supply chain linkages, target market specification, reduce seasonality of supply, provide supply chain data and benchmarking, and improve processing efficiency, and;
  
• $3.5 million to increase the economic contribution of agriculture in the north of WA.

Mr Gardiner was also pleased the Government had maintained its commitment to biosecurity with an allocation of $37 million. Included in this commitment is $4.8 million in new funding for wild dog management and upgrades to the State Barrier Fence. A further $20 million will be allocated for the State’s Natural Resource Management program in 2010-11, including $5 million in new funding, to ensure a sustainable resource base for the future.