NARACOORTE REGIONAL LIVESTOCK EXCHANGE

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:45): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development a question about the Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The marketplace is, of course, important in the study of economics because it provides a place for buyers and sellers to meet to trade goods and services. Attracting buyers and sellers to use market facilities is also important, and key to this is providing facilities that enable transactions between buyers and sellers to progress with full information at minimal cost and in the quickest time. My question to the minister is: can she please explain how the government is supporting the sale of livestock in South Australia?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:46): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. Members will be familiar with the system of selling livestock such as sheep and cattle in rural saleyards. It has been a feature of Australian country life for many years. One of this state's most important livestock exchanges is the Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange, which is run by the Naracoorte Lucindale Council.

The livestock exchange is a nationally accredited facility located five kilometres east of Naracoorte and it is one of the top stock-handling facilities by throughput volume in South Australia. It is of significant economic importance to the region's farmers, feedlot operators and also meat processors and it is a major source of supply for Teys Meatworks, Naracoorte's largest employer.

To give members some idea of the size of the operation, during the 2010-11 financial year, the exchange handled over 600,000 sheep and 118,000 cattle, including livestock from New South Wales, Victoria, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

The saleyard was established in 1973 and, although it has been well maintained over the years, we all know that equipment ages, new technology becomes available and operational constraints emerge. The changes to the industry and its practices in the 39 years since this livestock exchange was established are considerable. Just to take two examples, B-double trucks and electronic ear tags which identify each animal are the norm not the exception, and the infrastructure to sell stock must keep pace with best practice to ensure its ongoing usefulness.

I understand that, as a result, last year the council approved plans to upgrade this important community asset. Phase 1 of the project, which is being undertaken in this financial year at a cost of $4.2 million, is directed to water management and saving. It involves the upgrade of existing wash-down water treatment of trucks, collection of run-off from the new yard roofing and treatment of storm and wastewater.

When complete, stage 1 upgrades to the existing wash-down treatment and collection of roof run-off from the new yard roofing at the exchange will result in re-use of blended treated wastewater and stormwater from the site to irrigate council community open space. This re-use will help to reduce dependency on groundwater for water supply in the town.

I am pleased to advise that I have approved a grant from the Regional Development Infrastructure Fund of $200,000 to contribute to phase 2 of this $1.84 million project by the Naracoorte Lucindale Council. The RDIF grant will go to the cost of the new electronic weighbridge (about $320,000) and 162 gates for the lead-up yard ($98,000) as part of phase 2 of the project.

This phase of the project is due to occur in 2012-13. This important contribution is helping to maintain Naracoorte as the premier livestock selling facility in the region through providing high quality infrastructure that meets the needs of this important industry. In 2010-11, the Food Scorecard estimated the value of SA beef production as $286 million, while sheep and lamb production value was $428 million out of a total livestock production of $1.09 billion, so it is a very important industry to us.

Project benefits include improved efficiency of livestock weighing. This means that more stock can be processed per hour, and this is done more accurately, giving a fair result for both buyers and sellers. In turn, this improves the attractiveness of the livestock exchange for sellers and buyers, increasing economic activity in the district. The economic impact statement made by the council also indicates that the project will lead to the employment of an additional 1.5 FTEs.

I am advised that the Naracoorte Lucindale Council was approached by a company seeking to lease the facility from them. Following stakeholder and community consultation, which supported the council's retention of the exchange, it developed the projects to improve the site before making application for assistance under the RDIF.