MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper will sit on the Industrial Hemp Taskforce, announced by the Victorian Government yesterday to investigate the potential of hemp and identify growth and employment opportunities for the sector.
“Industrial hemp is an emerging industry and we’re excited to work out the best way to harness that potential and turn it into economic benefit for Victoria — particularly regional Victoria,” Ms Cupper said.
The Victorian industry focuses on hemp seeds used for food, but there are many other uses for the fibre.
Its products include textiles, bio-composite plastics, paper, biofuel, oil and cosmetics and these and more will be examined by the cross-party taskforce.
The taskforce will investigate whether regulations needed to be amended to support the industry’s growth.
“Hemp has huge potential in so many applications — and we’re keen to find out how government can support the industry to grow, creating jobs for regional Victorians,” Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said in launching the taskforce.
The taskforce will focus strictly on the industrial use of hemp, rather than therapeutic uses.
Demand for hemp as a food product has grown rapidly in Australia since it was included under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code in 2017.
In June, Murray River Organics (MRO) announced it would start growing organic hemp, for growing domestic and export markets for hemp-based foods, at its Nangiloc property.
MRO plans to grow up to 30ha of hemp during an initial pilot project, in addition to citrus and wine grapes, on the property.
The taskforce will also look at hemp industries in other jurisdictions for ideas and lessons that can be learned to help the Victorian industry grow — and will discuss their findings with their parliamentary colleagues and the industry before setting guidelines on how to grow the industry.
