FLAXLEY RESEARCH CENTRE

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:13): This will be my last question for this session. I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister for primary industries a question about dairy in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: As always, I declare my interest in dairy farming. Originally, South Australia thrived on dairy research from the Northfield Dairy Research Centre. Due to the fact that there was some urban sprawl, the dairy research centre at Northfield was sold by the then government and some of the funding from that went into a new dairy facility, called the Flaxley Research Centre. I am advised that the Flaxley Research Centre is now either up for sale or has possibly been sold. My questions to the minister on that, and on another piece of infrastructure in the CBD that also has an interest with the dairy industry, are:

1. Can the minister advise the house where the matter of the Flaxley Research Centre is up to—is it sold or going to be sold?

2. If it has been sold or is going to be sold, given that that money really belongs to the dairy industry, can she advise the house what will happen with the proceeds of that property?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:15): It must have been a Liberal government that sold Northfield, given that he has not accused Labor of selling it. So, I find that really interesting.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Yes, it was probably the Hon. Robert Brokenshire who sold the Northfield Dairy Research Centre in the first place. I find it fascinating. The fact that he has not accused Labor of selling it must mean that it was in fact a Liberal government that sold Northfield Dairy Research Centre. Again, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire is shamelessly hypocritical, but that has never stopped him in this place, never even slowed him down. In relates to Flaxley—

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Nasty, nasty minister.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I'm not nasty at all. The Hon. Robert Brokenshire and I get on extremely well together—we do a lot of good work together. It's a mutual thing: he bags me and I bag him, but we do so with great respect. In relation to our commitment to dairy research, I have indicated in this place before that the arrangements around research now have been approached in a national way.

In the past, each jurisdiction tried to dilute its research resources across as many different sectors as possible, to do a little bit of something in everything, and of course that is a very inefficient and ineffective way to go about research. We now have a much more nationally coordinated approach to research, where different jurisdictions are given lead responsibilities for carriage of research in different areas so that we share the distribution around the country, and then we share the research findings and information that come from that.

South Australia is no longer responsible for dairy research. In fact, within that R&D framework, SARDI is the national leader in areas of grains, wine, fishing and aquaculture, pigs, poultry, climate adaptation, animal welfare and food and nutrition. Our emphasis and need to be investing in and conducting dairy research are no longer relevant for us. I just cannot remember which jurisdiction was given the responsibility for dairy, but I would bet it was Victoria—I would hazard a guess.

So, not only have those changes taken place but also we go about research now in a very different way. The old-fashioned way was that we set up a whole series of research farms or stations around the state that actually acted and operated as farms, and research was conducted in that way. We now no longer rely as heavily on that; in fact, we rely very little on that method of research in some areas only. We now do extension research, where we actually go out to commercial farms and work with farmers in real commercial farming situations and run our research in collaboration and partnership with farmers.

That works extremely well because it provides a much closer link and nexus with real primary industries. The feedback from our farmers is very positive. They are very supportive of that form of research and are highly cooperative in the way they operate with SARDI and PIRSA officers to run extension projects. I must put on the record my congratulations and gratitude for the way that our farmers do cooperate in that way. I think we are a jurisdiction that is probably one of the most successful in doing that—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I'm getting to Flaxley. This is all relevant to Flaxley—I have another five minutes to go on Flaxley! I do put on the record my congratulations and recognition of our farmers and the fabulous cooperation in the way they conduct themselves with our research.

In relation to Flaxley, it has been assessed to be surplus to our requirements and it has been earmarked to be sold. It definitely hasn't been sold yet, but my understanding is that it is on the market and, if it's not on the market, it's about to go on the market. It definitely has been earmarked for sale and as I said (and for the reasons that I have outlined) that facility has now become surplus to our requirements.

I understand the honourable member's sentiments for that site. It has been a great research farm, a great research institution, and a lot of people have many fond memories of that facility. There are a lot of scientists and other workers who have come and gone from that site and a lot of hard work and sweat has gone in to toiling soil and other work at that particular facility. So I understand the sentimental attachment to the site but as I said, our research methodologies have moved on and so must we.