Forestry Centre of Excellence

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Forest Industries. Will the minister please update the council about the recently appointed Forestry Centre of Excellence Board?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:54): I thank the member for this question. I am pleased to inform this place about an exciting update relating to the Forestry Centre of Excellence.

As members will be aware, the Forestry Centre of Excellence, based in the heart of the Green Triangle in Mount Gambier, will be the first of its kind in Australia. It is being developed to create long-term research and development capabilities to enhance the Green Triangle's economic prosperity, generating more jobs and investment in the region in what is an incredibly important industry that generates over $1 billion in economic activity for the state every year.

In the lead-up to the last state election, the Malinauskas Labor government committed $15 million over 10 years for the establishment of the centre which, once completed, will be showcasing existing and future research, development and extension activities, as well as covering the economic and environmental aspects of the forestry industry.

The centre will be established at the existing University of South Australia/TAFE precinct in Mount Gambier and will accommodate entities such as the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation, along with the University of South Australia, the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub, Tree Breeding Australia and the Logging Investigation and Training centre.

I recently appointed a transitional board, with Professor Rob Lewis named as the independent chair. The board comprises Odette Lubbe, Managing Director of Green Triangle Forest Products; Emma-Kate Griffiths, People and Culture Manager at Timberlands Pacific; Professor Jason Whittle, Dean of Research at the University of South Australia; and Jo Collins, Executive Director, Industry, Strategy and Partnerships from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions.

The Forestry Centre of Excellence will initially be established within the University of South Australia, with oversight by the transitional board while the final structure for the centre is designed. Once the final structure is in place, the operations will be transitioned to a permanent structure and the transitional board replaced with a skills-based board.

Members in this place may be aware that earlier this year the centre for excellence steering committee released its strategic plan, which included its plans to commence a global search for a centre director to lead its research and development objectives. It is an exciting time in the forest industry in South Australia, with a suite of election commitments currently being rolled out by the Malinauskas Labor government.

As I have mentioned previously, the forest industry employs both directly and indirectly over 21,000 people, many of whom reside in the South-East, and it has an overall economic value to the state of over $1.4 billion. The Malinauskas Labor government is committed to growing the industry and a key enabler to achieve this is to invest in research and development. The industry is worthy of such investment and I am looking forward to seeing the Forestry Centre of Excellence progress to being a world-leading research facility based here in South Australia.