Mr HIGGINS - 2014-05-15
With the rapidly increasing demand of many of our Asian neighbour countries for safe, quality and secure food supplies, can you please inform the House of initiatives aimed at positioning the Northern Territory to capitalise on this opportunity?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question, because it shows a clear understanding of the significant role primary industry sectors play in developing northern Australia.
As a part of taking the lead role in developing northern Australia, in budget 2014 the Northern Territory government has provided $1m over two years to progress the development of the Food Industry Development Group. This is something that has never been done in the Northern Territory before. The focus of this group will be to establish robust pathways to drive food exports into niche, high-value markets in Asia, strengthening the Territory’s $580m primary industry sector and boosting agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture development.
Asia’s middle class economy is burgeoning, and if we are to unlock the full potential as producers of high-quality, safe and secure food commodities, we need to be ready to meet the demand this economic transformation is creating for our commodities. The Territory will need to differentiate itself from international competitors keen to meet the rising demands of Asia’s growing population. The charter of the new Food Industry Development Group is to coordinate and implement economic development in food production through market analysis, new market development and facilitation of land investment packages, assisting industry to attract overseas development and helping to meet Asia’s demand. A perfect example of how this group will operate is in the case management of the investment plans of CT Group which, as announced last week, is looking to produce up to 10 000 ha of dragon fruit.
Budget 2014 commits a further $9.6m over four years to expand the government’s land and water assessment program, which will identify new areas for development and thus play a key role in unlocking the Territory’s land use potential. This assessment program will supply high-quality information, allowing production of land suitability maps essential for designing specific food production systems and underpinning successful development. The availability of this data is therefore key to attracting private investment by reducing the risk of poor returns and production failures, as well as mitigating potential environmental degradation.
The Country Liberals government is committed to creating and sustaining jobs in the primary industry sector, and these two budget initiatives will no doubt create a very positive ripple effect through the Territory well into the future. I am very proud to be supported by my Cabinet colleagues in this enterprise. It is the first time we have made this foray. It expands on the work the Live Export Market Development Unit started 12 months ago, which came as a budget announcement in the previous year. This is an exciting time for the Northern Territory in agricultural development.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question, because it shows a clear understanding of the significant role primary industry sectors play in developing northern Australia.
As a part of taking the lead role in developing northern Australia, in budget 2014 the Northern Territory government has provided $1m over two years to progress the development of the Food Industry Development Group. This is something that has never been done in the Northern Territory before. The focus of this group will be to establish robust pathways to drive food exports into niche, high-value markets in Asia, strengthening the Territory’s $580m primary industry sector and boosting agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture development.
Asia’s middle class economy is burgeoning, and if we are to unlock the full potential as producers of high-quality, safe and secure food commodities, we need to be ready to meet the demand this economic transformation is creating for our commodities. The Territory will need to differentiate itself from international competitors keen to meet the rising demands of Asia’s growing population. The charter of the new Food Industry Development Group is to coordinate and implement economic development in food production through market analysis, new market development and facilitation of land investment packages, assisting industry to attract overseas development and helping to meet Asia’s demand. A perfect example of how this group will operate is in the case management of the investment plans of CT Group which, as announced last week, is looking to produce up to 10 000 ha of dragon fruit.
Budget 2014 commits a further $9.6m over four years to expand the government’s land and water assessment program, which will identify new areas for development and thus play a key role in unlocking the Territory’s land use potential. This assessment program will supply high-quality information, allowing production of land suitability maps essential for designing specific food production systems and underpinning successful development. The availability of this data is therefore key to attracting private investment by reducing the risk of poor returns and production failures, as well as mitigating potential environmental degradation.
The Country Liberals government is committed to creating and sustaining jobs in the primary industry sector, and these two budget initiatives will no doubt create a very positive ripple effect through the Territory well into the future. I am very proud to be supported by my Cabinet colleagues in this enterprise. It is the first time we have made this foray. It expands on the work the Live Export Market Development Unit started 12 months ago, which came as a budget announcement in the previous year. This is an exciting time for the Northern Territory in agricultural development.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016