Circular Economy

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:48): My question is to the Premier. Is the government in favour of the circular economy? Mr Speaker, with your leave and the leave of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr McBRIDE: There is a concern from industry in my electorate that this type of economic model is not being utilised, despite the diversity of businesses in our region that are willing to engage in such a framework.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:48): I thank the member for MacKillop for his question. I love visiting the member for MacKillop's electorate, along with the member for Mount Gambier's. I aim to get down there quarterly. I am hoping I can get down there between now and the next election.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: You should think about that interjection. The thing about the member for MacKillop's electorate and the whole of the Limestone Coast is the extraordinary economic diversity that it has. There is obviously what it's famous for in terms of primary production, but it's also about making sure that every element of the primary production food chain, so to speak, is utilised and put into the most productive of means in a range of different forms. That is, of course, what the circular economy speaks to in terms of its opportunities in the South-East, and the South-East probably does it better than most other parts of the world.

If we look at areas like treated timber, where we see timber being grown in the South-East, treated and then being used in vineyards, for instance, in the member for MacKillop's electorate, 700,000 to 1.8 million CCA posts such as those need to be disposed of due to breakage or vineyard redevelopment or removal, and it costs the state each year. In March this year, the state and federal governments announced an $800,000 commitment to develop a serious national framework for the recycling and re-use of that timber in a way that will benefit industry but also the environment. It speaks to an effective and productive use of such resources.

We are also doing this in collaboration with Wine Australia and other agencies. This is, like I said, an example of where the private sector sees an opportunity and is collaborating with government, not just in terms of funding but also collaboration with our agencies and industry groups to see to the productive circular economy just in that instance. Then, of course, we've got Green Industries SA that frequently partners with RDAs, including on the Limestone Coast, to look at opportunities in and around such moments.

That's just one example, but when we think about the forestry sector in particular—which I know the member for MacKillop is an enthusiastic supporter of, as he is with all primary production on the Limestone Coast—one of the reasons and one of the motivations that this government has to invest as aggressively as we have in the forestry sector is because we see that as being one of the best examples of the circular economy delivering dividends for the environment, because of course we see a great decarbonisation attribute associated with the forestry sector but also the efficient and effective use of every last bit of fibre not once, but over and over and over again in many different ways.

But that only happens when you see industry collaborating with government, particularly around R & D, which is why we are so excited about the prospect of opening up the Forestry Centre of Excellence in that precinct in conjunction with the technical college, which I popped in on when I was down there a few weeks ago and it looks absolutely magnificent—made, of course, out of locally produced GLT and CLT, probably from your electorate, I would have thought, and seeing that come to life. So when we invest in R & D we are investing in the circular economy, which means we are investing in the environment and the economy, but it's the primary producers of the South-East who bring this to life and they deserve great praise for it.