Grain Industry

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (15:12): I thank the minister. Can the minister explain why the application process for registration of interest is only open for four weeks?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:12): Certainly. First of all, it is under the auspices of GPSA, so they have made that decision. That is my understanding. When I was speaking with them at the Cleve field days a few weeks ago and we were discussing this very exciting initiative, they were saying that they were really hoping to get it completed within a short period of time.

It is a trial and therefore the expressions of interest open from 6 September, closing I think on 30 September. It is important to get those 10 participants involved. There has been a reasonable amount of media coverage of this when it was announced some weeks ago as well as, I know, this week, when certainly some of the regional media has run articles encouraging producers to get involved with the program.

Producers who are interested in participating can lodge their expression of interest with GPSA. They need to provide the name, location and contact details. So I certainly hope there is a lot of interest in this, because it certainly has the potential to benefit grain producers and South Australia more broadly.