IN case it’s not already obvious, I am an industrial hemp fangirl.
It is one of the reasons I was so excited to co-chair the Victorian Government’s cross-party Industrial Hemp Taskforce, with our role to investigate opportunities to turbo-charge the hemp industry and make Sunraysia the industrial hemp capital of Victoria.
This week I, along with Reason Coalition partner and fellow taskforce member Fiona Patten, visited the industrial hemp-growing trial at Mildura SuniTAFE’s Smart Farm in Cardross.
The trial is a partnership between SuniTAFE and Australian Primary Hemp to evaluate Sunraysia’s suitability for growing different hemp varieties.
Hemp is such a versatile plant.
There are thousands of documented uses for hemp including food, fibre, building and textile materials, insulation and biofuels.
There is a growing market for hemp products in Australia, and it is important for our state to be at the forefront of that burgeoning industry.
And there is no doubt Sunraysia could be a frontrunner in the production and processing of hemp.
Having a locally-based industry with a processing plant would provide employment, help grow our economy and give many of our farmers opportunities to invest in a complementary crop.
Ms Patten and I spent this week travelling across the Mildura electorate meeting with key stakeholders on a range of important issues.
We plan to use this information – as well as public forums we are planning for the coming months – to formulate the Reason for the Regions policy platform.
There are many issues and opportunities the Reason Coalition will be advocating for over the next two years with the RateGate campaign for regional rate reform a priority in the immediate future.
The RateGate petition, which already has more than 600 signatures, will be presented to the Victorian Government in April.
This week well-known businessman and councillor Stefano di Pieri was appointed co-chair of the RateGate campaign.
We also held our first Regional Stakeholder Engagement Team (ReSET) meeting and we will now draft a resolution to send to all regional and rural Victorian councils to adopt and formally state their support for the campaign.
