Today I had the pleasure of officially opening Fruit Growers Tasmania’s 2014 Conference ‘Growing our Markets – From the Farm Gate to the World’.
Fruit is vital to Tasmania’s agriculture and export future, with nine per cent of the gross value of agriculture production being generated by the industry.
The Liberal Government is a strong supporter of our fruit growers. Agrivision 2050 – our long term Plan for Agriculture – is aimed at increasing the value of the agricultural sector 10-fold to be worth $10 billion per year by 2050. We see significant growth in agriculture and in agriculture related jobs and our fruit growers will be a major part of this.
The focus of our Agrivision 2050 Plan is on growing the industry, and protecting our reputation with significant biosecurity investment.
Biosecurity is obviously a key issue for fruit growers, and that is why the Liberal Government has already delivered on our commitment to establish Biosecurity Tasmania – a significant improvement that strengthens our frontline.
We also plan to encourage greater competition within the freight market, with the current freight capacity on the Spirits of Tasmania maintained and the private sector exploring options for increasing freight services.
Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Primary Industries and Water
