RIVERLAND SUSTAINABLE FUTURES FUND

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development a question about the Riverland.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: The minister has spoken previously about—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: The minister has previously spoken about the Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund and informed us about some of the projects which have met the criteria under the fund. Can the minister update the chamber on the progress of the AgriExchange project, which she spoke about in March last year?

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) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for his question. Members would be aware that the government established the Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund to help the Riverland region, which had been substantially impacted upon by severe and prolonged drought and was struggling to get back on its feet. This fund was about assisting them to move towards a sustainable economy in the future.

One way to have a sustainable economy is to build on the existing strengths of the region and to improve its competitive advantages. The citrus industry is one of the existing strengths of the Riverland region. With this in mind, in March of last year I approved a grant of $620,000 to AgriExchange, a citrus growing, packing and exporting firm, towards a $1.239 million expansion to improve its facility at Murtho in the Riverland, to revamp its production and packing lines and marketing of one million additional cartons of citrus.

Today, I am pleased to advised the chamber that this major expansion has been completed, well ahead of its scheduled completion date of May 2012. The project was finished four months ahead of schedule in January 2012. By doubling the fruit sizing capacity, auto-packing equipment and storage capacity, it allows the company to pack more citrus in South Australia, instead of sending some of the fruit interstate. I understand that some of it was going to Mildura to be packed. Processing all of the fruit it receives from its growers means that more work is available in the Riverland during packing, creating new casual jobs. The company has also more than doubled its target, increasing the number of seasonal casual jobs from 150 to 371.

I understand that the new equipment AgriExchange has installed has markedly increased productivity of the line, as well as doubling the sorting capacity on the packing line in the facility, improving the throughput from the point at which the fruit enters the facility through to its shipping. It has increased the speed of citrus sorting and packing, and the new automatic bin tippers mean improved efficiency of feeding fruit into the packing shed by 45 per cent, increasing from 45 to 65 bins per hour.

AgriExchange has targeted new and emerging markets, and the expansion has led to more exports, including more than 20,000 cartons of citrus to Thailand. The final project report from AgriExchange, a wholly owned subsidiary of CostaExchange Limited, has shown an increase of almost 360,000 cartons of citrus in 2011 compared to 2010. The estimated volume for 2012 onwards is expected to exceed 500,000 cartons per year more than before the project was initiated.

The Riverland has a proud history of being a citrus producer and is the source of almost 100 per cent of South Australia's citrus production, which means that it provides 28 per cent of Australia's production. AgriExchange currently handles about 50 per cent of South Australia's citrus crop. I congratulate the company on the work it has done and the remarkable increase in jobs and exports and productivity. It is a great result, which I hope will see even bigger growth in exports from the Riverland into the future.

The $20 million Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund was established to help support the implementation of opportunities identified by the Riverland Regional Prospectus by facilitating projects that improve infrastructure, support industry attraction and help grow existing businesses. The fund is available to assist with industry restructuring and to promote sustainable economic and social development. Grants are available for up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs. The fund is available over four years.