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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-14 Daily Xml
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WINE YEAST RESEARCH

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Science and Information Economy. What recent development highlights South Australia as a centre for world class scientific research?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:33): I thank the member for Little Para for her very important question. Sir, I know that you would be familiar with this, but across a broad range of fields South Australian scientists consistently excel on the world stage. They make enduring contributions to the social and economic development of our state. Our scientists here in South Australia do some outstandingly good work.

Last week there was a tremendously exciting announcement that puts South Australia at the forefront—and I know that Ivan would be interested in this—of research into wines. One of South Australia's renowned centres of excellence is the Australian Wine Research Institute, which is located at the Waite Institute and is part of our Wine Innovation Cluster. I am delighted to inform members that, through the pioneering work of Professor Sakkie Pretorius, Dr Anthony Borneman, Dr Paul Chambers and the team at AWRI, bioscience in South Australia has achieved a world-first breakthrough, having cracked the genetic code of wine yeast.

With wine yeast being a key ingredient in winemaking, this discovery opens the way for the development of improved wine yeast without the need for genetic engineering. This is an incredible find, and will be a major boost to the Australian wine industry—where, of course, South Australia is a world leader. By better understanding the biology of yeast and the chemistry of wine our wine sector will have the opportunity to innovate, and maximise its marketing potential by altering our wines to suit particular markets.

This find puts our winemakers in a stronger position to manage the fermentation process and to develop wines with the right quality, character and flavour. This discovery will also see our wine sector better placed to meet the growing challenges from developing wine-growing regions such as Chile, South Africa and China, along with the established sectors in Europe, the United States and New Zealand.

The success of Professor Sakkie Pretorius and his team is even more remarkable when it is realised that it took about six months for them to accomplish this feat, while international researchers have been working in this area for many years and have expended millions of dollars in their pursuit.

The Wine Innovation Cluster brings together five of Australia's key agencies in grape and wine research, and in doing so forms a strong entity that drives growth throughout the grape and wine value chain. The cluster is an offshoot of the government's Constellation SA strategy, which aims to enhance collaboration between research organisations and industry in our state, and which has received an additional $1 million in funding in this current year's state budget.

The state government's support for the AWRI is substantial. In addition to the $60,000 provided to develop the Wine Innovation Cluster concept, the government has also provided $800,000 for the development of an Australian metabolomics centre at the AWRI. This funding will supplement the commonwealth funding of $1.2 million through the NCRIS program, along with AWRI's contribution of $100,000.

The AWRI will also receive over $500,000 from the Premier's Science and Research Fund for another wine yeast project which will further add value to our wine industry. In addition, the new purpose-built facility for the Wine Innovation Cluster will be launched in November. The state government has contributed $9.5 million to this new facility, which will link the AWRI with the existing CSIRO plant industry building.

AWRI's remarkable achievement is something that I think all South Australians can be very proud of, and it is further evidence of the government's efforts to ensure that in this state there is a thriving and productive research environment for the benefit of all South Australians—and, indeed, the world.

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