Question On Notice No. 1690 asked in the Legislative Council on 11 October 2018 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Minister for Regional Development; Agriculture and Food; Minister Assisting the Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 2176-
View tabled paper
Question
I refer to Legislative Council question on notice No. 1580, relating to the Horticulture Research Recovery Fund (HRRF), and I ask:
(a) for each recipient of funding to date, please provide the name of the organisation, individual or business receiving funding, the amount of funding received and the purpose of the funding;
(b) for each future recipient of funding, please provide the name of the organisation, individual or business receiving funding, the amount of funding received and the purpose of the funding;
(c) is the HRRF a grant program and are funds awarded on that basis;
(d) if yes to (c), please provide the grant guidelines and criteria for the HRRF and how were funding opportunities advertised;
(e) if no to (c), will the Minister outline the process used to determine the allocation of funding to private businesses and industry organisations;
(f) will the Minister please provide the business case for the HRRF;
(g) was the purpose of the HRRF to focus on potato industry export outcomes as advised in the above mentioned question on notice;
(h) for each funding recipient identified in (a) and (b), please provide the grant application or application including evidence supporting the funding amount;
(i) for each funding recipient identified in (a) and (b), please provide the executed grant agreement or financial assistance agreement;
(j) who was responsible for reviewing applications for funding and making recommendations or funding decisions; and
(k) who is the final decision maker for funding allocated from the HRRF?
Answered on 8 November 2018
a) Fox Farming Pty Ltd - $142,333 - A washing/grading/packing line designed to meet the quality standards required for new markets.
Pemberton Fresh Pty Ltd - $200,000 - Innovative packaging equipment to meet specific requirements of new markets.
GP Ayres & Sons Pty Ltd - $200,000 - Infrastructure upgrade - Optical sorter for seed potatoes
VegetablesWA - $50,000 - Report into collaborative entrepreneurship for exporting.
b) Bendotti Exporters Pty Ltd - $200,000 - Upgrade of processing and production equipment to increase the overall efficiency of processing potatoes. Please note, this grant has been approved under the Potato Industry Assistance Grants program but funding has not yet been provided. Funding for this grant was incorrectly reported as expended in response to Question on Notice 1580.
Horticulture Innovation Australian – up to $400,000 to invest in research on ‘Alternative disinfestation for market access for crops affected by tomato potato psyllid’. If the tender is successful the project will be managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). The total cost of the project is valued at $879,853.
DPIRD, Diagnostic Laboratory Services (DDLS) Seed Testing and Certification - $100,000. Support for the Seed Potato Certification Scheme that underpins healthy seed for all potato production within the State. $50,000 per year for two years will be provided to DDLS, reducing the annual request from DDLS to the Agricultural Produce Commission, Potato Producers’ Committee by the same amount.
Western Sydney University - $24,000 - Investigate TPP interactions with Australian native cut flowers (Geraldton wax, Banksia species) to assess the risk of TPP contaminating such cut flower commodities to assist providing science based evidence to address trade restriction on carrier produce.
VegetablesWA - $100,000 for investment into the ‘Small and Medium Enterprises Export Hub Grant’, administered by the Commonwealth Department of Industry Innovation and Science, to facilitate the development of up to four commercial export clusters to help grow the overall value of Western Australian horticultural exports affected by the TPP incident.
c) A portion of the HRRF was utilised for the competitive Potato Industry Assistance Grants program, the balance of funding will be invested based on consultation with industry and advice from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD).
d) Grant guidelines for the Potato Industry Assistance Grants program are attached.
The Potato Industry Assistance Grants program was communicated via a Ministerial media statement, as well as on social media and DPIRD’s web page. The information was also provided to Vegetables WA and the Potato Growers Association of Western Australia for circulation to industry.
e) Investment priorities for the balance of the HRRF were determined after consultation with industry and DPIRD advice on the opportunity to leverage co-investment of the HRRF to return greater benefit to the State and the affected industry.
f) There is no business case for the HRRF as it is a component of the Agricultural Sciences Research and Development Fund (ASRDF).
g) Yes, and other produce.
h) [Please refer to tabled paper no.s: ].
i) Funding agreements are tailored to suit each project, and often for each grant. The tabling of these agreements would be detrimental to the State for future agreement negotiations if they were made publically available.
j) The review of funding applications for the Potato Industry Assistance Grants program, and recommendations for funding were undertaken by DPIRD.
For the remainder of the HRRF, recommendations for funding were made by DPIRD after consultation with industry.
k) I am responsible for the final decision for funding allocations from the HRRF.