Forestry Centre of Excellence

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Forest Industries. The minister certainly can, but will the minister update the council on the recent launch of the Forestry Centre of Excellence?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Attorney-General!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his question. He displays a particular interest, as I think do all on this side, in the very valuable forestry sector of South Australia, unfortunately unlike those opposite.

As I mentioned last sitting week in this place, we have had an exciting few weeks for the forestry industry here in South Australia. We have seen a $90 million investment by OneFortyOne in their Jubilee sawmill in Mount Gambier, and the appointment of distinguished Professor Emeritus Jeff Morrell as the inaugural Forestry Centre of Excellence director, who will start in the role in January.

While in Mount Gambier recently with the Premier, we had the opportunity to formally launch the Forestry Centre of Excellence, release the design plans for the building and reveal the corporate branding that will used for the centre. The centre needs a dedicated facility, a building suited to its research and other needs, and I am so pleased that they are getting one. The state government is funding $3.5 million and the University of South Australia over $2 million for the build of the centre.

This investment will help the building achieve both its ambitious functional requirements and for it to be a showcase for the local and contemporary timber materials from which it will be constructed. I also want to acknowledge and thank industry for their work and support in the development of the centre. They are contributing timber products in the build of the centre, which will allow the very best of the Green Triangle to be showcased, which we hope will become a centre that is world-leading in research, for which it already has a strong track record.

The designs are now available and they are impressive. I understand they include laboratories, meeting rooms, workstations and office space to allow for extensive research and development to take place. We want this area to be a thriving space for the healthy and unique mix of education, training, industry and community activities. I encourage members in this place to have a look at the branding that has been released for the Forestry Centre of Excellence, which can be found at forestrycoe.com.au.

The launch of the Forestry Centre of Excellence was attended by a large suite of stakeholders from the forest industry, with over 100 people from industry attending the event. I will not name everyone, but it was wonderful to see such a wide range and variety of attendees from all aspects of the forest industry. The Premier spoke about the vision for the centre as an international leader in forest industry research, education, product and market development, enhancing the Green Triangle region through built capacity and national collaboration.

The government recognises the important and significant role that forest-related industries play in contributing to the state's economy. That is why we have committed $16 million over 10 years for the new Forestry Centre of Excellence, to create a long-term forestry research and development capability based in Mount Gambier. The funding agreement is in place and funds are flowing to the centre already.

The centre has initially been established within the University of South Australia, and I thank the university for their hard work in seeing this come to fruition, with oversight by a transitional board and an independent chair while the final governance structure is designed and determined. Once determined, operations will be transitioned to a permanent structure and the transitional board replaced with a skills-based board.

The new Forestry Centre of Excellence in Mount Gambier is fostering collaboration across jurisdictions and disciplines, including forest industries, academia and government, to undertake research that boosts innovation, creates more jobs and develops long-term capacity of the industry to take on both the challenges and the opportunities of local and global scale.

At the launch I spoke at length of the importance of collaboration, because that is within the project and why I am so pleased to see such investment by government, academia and industry, who are working closely together to ensure the development of the centre achieves its potential. I thank all parties for their continued support. I look forward to being able to once again provide an update as the project progresses further.