INDUSTRIAL HEMP
145. Hon
SOPHIA MOERMOND to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
I refer the minister to the
comments she made when introducing the Industrial Hemp Amendment Bill 2018,
comments with which I wholeheartedly agree, and specifically —
Interest in industrial hemp in Western
Australia has never been greater. There are a multitude of end uses for
industrial hemp, including food, textiles, building material, paper, cosmetics
and biofuel.
Given the minister's
enthusiasm, which I share, I take this opportunity to ask the following
questions.
(1) Since the
passage of the amendment act in 2018, how many companies have applied to the
department for licences to cultivate, harvest and/or process industrial hemp
here in Western Australia, and how many licences have been granted in urban and
rural areas?
(2) How much does
the department estimate industrial hemp is currently contributing to the WA
economy on an annual basis?
(3) What
modelling, if any, has the department undertaken to estimate the potential
future income from industrial hemp to the WA economy if the growth rates seen
in recent years are maintained or exceeded; and, is the minister able to share
any such modelling with the chamber?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for her
question, acknowledging it is her first question and that, like the other new
members, she has got out early from the blocks on her preferred topic.
(1) A total of
104 licences have been granted since that time, of which 93 are still current.
This is an increase from the 68 licences
that were in existence in 2018. Of the current licences, four are urban and 89
are rural.
(2)–(3) In
our assessment, the hemp industry in WA really does need support with breeding
and agronomy to be a competitive and viable option for farmers. Our focus is
not so much on economic modelling as to the future but on getting down to that
grassroots work that needs to be done that has been neglected for the last 50
years. We have trials underway to establish the best varieties, agronomy and
systems across the state. Just on Saturday,
I inspected our crop at the Frank Wise research station in Kununurra, and a number
of the eight varieties we planted this year are looking quite strong.
We
are also undertaking multiple varietal trials in Busselton and Manjimup. In
response to the industry's request, we have been conducting a trial
of hemp forage, looking at the nutritional value and tetrahydrocannabinol
accumulation, and it is looking good. The animals are getting the munchies and
they are putting on a lot of weight, but they do not seem to be accumulating a lot
of THC in their flesh.
We have funded two decorticator
projects, especially for building applications. In total, since 2018, we have
provided 12 grants to various private sector and not-for-profit industrial hemp
projects as well as two very significant grants for medicinal cannabis
facilities in the south west. We are very much focused on getting those
options, but it is coming a long way behind because very little work has been
done over the last 50 years in looking at this very valuable product.