Agriculture Industry

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is keeping the state's economy strong through investments in new agricultural opportunities?

The SPEAKER: Before the minister answers, I just draw his attention to the time, and crossbench questions are fast approaching.

The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM (Finniss—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:05): I would like to thank the member for his important question and recognise his region for their commitment to agriculture and their commitment to the state. I think it's important to recognise there is an increased demand for protein worldwide. Whether it be plant or animal based, there is a huge increase in demand for protein. There is a real opportunity here in South Australia for us to get in particularly the space where plant protein is a key opportunity. We are seeing a significant increase in the population that's going down the vegetarian or vegan path, but we are also seeing that worldwide there are many demands in this space.

Australia has been an exporter of pulses and other protein-based plants for many years. We have just not been a commodity exporter. We have decided that it's important that we look into what we can do on value-adding in that space, so we have made a commitment of $2 million towards the Adelaide University's Waite Campus, where we have set up a plant-based protein incubator. As was described to me when I was down there recently, we will be able to take plants from the kilo volume in the experimental kitchen up to about a thousand kilos before it then becomes commercial.

This enables businesses to test their products to see whether they are a viable option. This is a great initiative to enable the industry to actually grow and use this facility to take the risk of developing these products. Conscious of the time, I will leave the answer there.