Media Releases

The Victorian Coalition Government is inviting the public to comment on proposed changes to the code of practice for dog and cat breeding and rearing establishments.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh said the revised Code of Practice for the Operation of Breeding and Rearing Establishments outlined the minimum acceptable standards for the management and care of cats and dogs in breeding and rearing establishments.
Mr Walsh said public consultation on the proposed changes was an important step in revising the code, to ensure community expectations are met with respect to the welfare of breeding animals.
“The proposed new code includes a number of changes aimed at enhancing the welfare of cats and dogs under the care of breeding establishments,” Mr Walsh said.
“The proposed changes seek to ensure that Victoria leads the way in the standards expected of breeding and rearing establishments.
“This is just another step in the Victorian Coalition’s tougher stance on illegal breeding establishments since coming to Government,” Mr Walsh said.
The changes include:
· new provisions for animal health management such as nutrition and annual health checks;
· new provisions for breeding management such as the requirement for veterinary checks prior to mating and minimum breeding ages, all developed in consultation with vets;
· more detail about the minimum amount and type of daily exercise needed for dogs of different sizes, stages of breeding and purpose;
· housing requirements for larger businesses with six or more fertile animals;
· a staff-to-animal ratio for businesses with more than 25 adult animals (1:25); and
· health management plans, which all businesses must develop in consultation with a vet.
Vaccination schedules have also been amended to align with the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Vaccination Policy.
Feedback on the draft code can be sent electronically via the DPI website at www.dpi.vic.gov.au and telephone inquiries should be made to 136186.
The public comment period closes at 9am on 13 May 2013.

The Victorian Coalition Government and Geelong Football Club yesterday renewed a partnership that will continue to showcase the many benefits of living and working in regional and rural Victoria.
Representing Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan, Minister for Agriculture and Food Security and Minister for Water Peter Walsh said the Geelong Football Club was a powerful example of the success achievable in regional towns and cities.
“As regional Victoria’s foremost sporting icon, the Geelong Football Club has achieved success at a national level and its profile highlights the many opportunities available to people interested in a tree change,” Mr Walsh said.
“The Coalition Government and Geelong Football Club have worked together on the Good Move campaign, which showcases that Geelong and other regional cities and towns are perfect places to establish a home and take up employment, business and education opportunities.
“Many of Geelong’s top players, past and present, got their start in regional Victoria. By continuing to live and work in the regions they demonstrate that you don’t have to compromise your career to enjoy a country lifestyle.”
Mr Walsh said the Geelong Football Club will be at this year’s Regional Victoria Living Expo at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 19-21 April.
“Sports play a major role in regional and rural communities, and that will be reflected in this year’s Expo, with a Sports Precinct showcasing the many great sporting programs available in regional cities and towns, including Geelong,” Mr Walsh said.
“The 2013 expo will be bigger and better than last year, with more than 100 exhibitors, including Victoria’s 48 regional and rural councils, on hand to provide practical information on careers, education, housing, health and the great lifestyle available.
“We are expecting more than 10,000 visitors to come along and discover what regional and rural Victoria can offer them.”
The Coalition Government’s Good Move campaign and the Regional Victoria Living Expo
showcase Victoria’s regions so individuals, families and businesses can explore everything
they need to make their own move to country Victoria.
To find out more about the Region

The Victorian Coalition Government will provide $240,000 over two years to the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) to support the promotion of agricultural career opportunities in schools.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh announced the funding today while addressing the Young Agribusiness Professionals (YAPs) conference in Lorne.
Mr Walsh said the funding would support a VFF careers adviser position. The adviser will help schools to highlight opportunities for students who are considering careers in the food and fibre sector.
“After hearing the range of issues discussed at the recent Grow Your Food and Fibre Future forum, I have decided the Coalition Government will fund a skilled professional who will help schools and advise young people about the range of career opportunities available within the food and fibre industry,” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Walsh said the Coalition Government was committed to promoting agriculture as a fulfilling and important career path for young people, who will be the generation to help Victoria achieve the goal of doubling food and fibre production by 2030.
“Last year’s Parliamentary Inquiry into attracting and retaining young farmers showed we need communities, educators and the agriculture industry to work together to improve the image of agriculture as a career,” Mr Walsh said.
“This inquiry report specifically recommended the Government work in partnership with the farming sector to improve the image of agricultural careers among young Victorians and school careers advisers.
“We all need to work together to promote the agriculture industry as being a lot more than just farming.”
VFF president Peter Tuohey welcomed the funding and said the new careers adviser position was a crucial part of the Government and VFF’s campaign to recruit the next generation of food and fibre producers.
“We need to do all we can to promote the fact that agriculture delivers profitable, strong and enjoyable careers,” Mr Tuohey said.
YAPs chairman and farmer Aaron Sanderson said the appointment was an important first step in re-building the image of agriculture, which was a hot topic among students, young farmers and other rural professionals who attended the Gen F forums at 10 locations across the state.

A $1.75 million animal research house addition to the Hamilton Red Meat Innovation Centre was officially opened by the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Peter Walsh today.
Mr Walsh said the new building was the second stage of the Victorian Coalition Government’s $2.4 million program at the Hamilton Centre.
“The facilities here in Hamilton are putting Victoria at the cutting edge of lamb research in Australia,” Mr Walsh said.
“The new building will be used to study sheep and lambs and their growth responses to different feeds and forages, to better understand what drives productivity in the paddock.
“The research will also look at the nutritive value of high-quality forages that are used in the lamb, beef and dairy industries.
“The new animal research house has been carefully designed to provide the best possible conditions for animals while the research is conducted, and complements the $340,000
covered sheep yards that were completed last year at the Red Meat Innovation Centre,” Mr Walsh said.
The new animal research house features include:
· flexible pen layout that can be adapted for individual, small or large groups of sheep;
· both natural and artificial light;
· data/network capability to capture information and data remotely; and
· feed store, with capacity for bulk handling of feeds and forages for mixing and weighing.
Mr Walsh said the Coalition Government’s Growing Food and Fibre initiative was providing $8.9 million of new investment over four years for red meat research, development and extension. A further $2.3 million a year of recurrent funding is also being provided through the Department of Primary Industries core funding.
“The sheep meat industry is very important to Victoria, generating jobs and economic activity in rural and regional communities,” Mr Walsh said.
“We are Australia’s largest lamb producing state, and the second largest producer of mutton, and sheep meat is Victoria’s third largest agricultural industry with an annual gross value of about $900 million.”

The Victorian Coalition Government has today announced $362,500 for biosecurity projects that will help the state’s cattle industry defend against threats and diseases.
Visiting the Red Meat Innovation Centre in Hamilton today, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh said he had approved four projects for the 2013-14 grants round from the Cattle Compensation Fund.
“Biosecurity is a priority of the Coalition Government and these projects will help Victorian producers to better protect their cattle and their farm businesses,” Mr Walsh said
“Victoria remains free from many of the pests and diseases that affect livestock production in other parts of the world and our favourable biosecurity status provides significant economic, environmental and community benefits.
“Investment in herd tracking, disease surveillance and preparedness programs is essential to ensure that Victoria food and fibre producers continue to have access to premium markets across the world.”
The projects approved for 2013/14 are:
· $170,000 for the Department of Primary Industries to maintain its National Livestock Identification Scheme (Cattle) auditing and advisory services;
· $22,500 to assist dairy software providers to modify their products to enable users to easily connect with the NLIS database and record cattle movements;
· $70,000 for disease recognition training for veterinary practitioners – more than double the current allocation. This will include training in the use of test kits for the screening of carcases for anthrax;
· $100,000 per year for the next three years to support the Dairy Australia on-farm biosecurity project.
The Cattle Compensation Fund is financed by stamp duty on the sale of animals at stockyards. Projects are recommended for funding by the Cattle Compensation Advisory Committee.

Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Water Peter Walsh and Minister for Environment and Climate Change Ryan Smith have welcomed Premier Denis Napthine’s announcement of the new Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI).
Mr Walsh said the new department would provide a better and more efficient management approach for public and private land, and water for the people of Victoria.
“A clear objective of this merger of the departments of Environment and Sustainability and Primary Industries, by the Victorian Coalition Government, is to boost service delivery to regional areas,” Mr Walsh said.
“We believe decisions that affect local communities are best made by locally-based decision makers, not people who are behind a desk hundreds of kilometres away in the city.
“We want to provide communities with one-stop shops for land and water management issues.
“Integrating DPI and DSE into a single department will enable more practical management of land and water on both public and private land, and in turn the new DEPI will be able to provide streamlined and responsive services to our stakeholders.
“There will be a more mobile, flexible workforce with greater capacity to respond to emergencies such as fires, floods or biosecurity incursions and to seasonal programs such as prescribed burning and compliance actions across the range of department portfolios,” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Smith said the amalgamation would build on work already underway to ensure improved coordination of key efforts to preserve public land and waterways across Victoria.
“This builds on the important environmental works we already see in rural areas being carried out by groups such as Landcare and catchment management authorities,” Mr Smith said.
“Some of the biggest challenges our environment faces, such as bushfires, floods, threatened species and pest plants and animals don’t discriminate between what is public and private property
and it makes sense to manage and protect all land in a co-ordinated way.”
Mr Walsh and Mr Smith both look forward to working with DSE and DPI staff, and the newly appointed Secretary Adam Fennessy, as DEPI prepares to open for business from 1 July this year.
Both Ministers recognised and thanked Secretary of the Department of Sustainability and Environment Greg Wilson and Secretary of the Department of Primary Industries Jeff Rosewarne for their dedicated service in their respective roles.

Victorian Government scientists have been exposing wine grapes to smoke as part of groundbreaking experiments to better understand the impact of smoke taint on grapes and the wine that is made from them.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh today met researchers at the Centre for Expertise in Smoke Taint Research at Irymple, and inspected a custom-made device that researchers had designed and built to expose ripening grapes to the impact of smoke.
The Centre for Expertise is a $4 million election commitment by the Victorian Coalition Government to help grape growers and winemakers counter the threat posed by smoke taint.
“Bushfire smoke taint has cost the Victorian grape and wine industries an estimated $300 million in lost production and downgraded quality over the past five years,” Mr Walsh said.
“During the 2013 vintage our researchers have used their device to deliberately expose shiraz,
cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay grapes to smoke, and then turned those grapes into wine at the Centre for Expertise’s on-site winery.
“The device uses straw, burned in an incinerator, to smoke the grapes as they reach maturity.
“More than 2.5 tonnes of smoked and unsmoked fruit have been processed through the experimental winery as part of the Centre’s activities this year, producing over 100 wines for smoke taint research.
“The wines produced are the focus of two main experiments by its researchers. One is looking at the shelf life of smoke tainted wine under various conditions, and the other involves exposing grapes to smoke for different amounts of time to determine how much smoke causes taint.”
Centre for Expertise Director Dr Mark Downey said this work was linked to other research focusing on the potential to use smoke detectors around vineyards to help growers determine the level of risk posed by any smoke present in the area.
“Part of our work involves attempting to link the incidence of smoke taint in fruit and wine to measured smoke levels in the environment using a field smoke detector,” Dr Downey said.
“These kind of smoke detectors are affordable and will make it possible for industry to set them up in networks to enable growers to determine what level of risk is posed by smoke present in their area.”

Australian grain growers will have access to higher performing canola varieties thanks to a new project agreement between the Victorian Coalition Government and one of the world’s leading plant biotechnology companies, Dow AgroSciences.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh said over the past four years, researchers from Dow AgroSciences, the Department of Primary Industries and Sangamo BioSciences had developed EXZACTTM Precision Technology – a state-of-the-art platform for developing superior canola and wheat.
“The technology will now be used by scientists from DPI and Dow AgroSciences to improve the performance of canola varieties of direct benefit to Victorian growers,” Mr Walsh said.
“This research will take place at AgriBio, Victoria’s new $288 million Centre for AgrioBioscences in Bundoora that was officially opened by Premier Denis Napthine and La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor John Dewar yesterday.
“It is the sixth joint research venture between DPI and Dow AgroScience and is yet another example of international investment in Victoria’s world-leading agricultural scientific knowhow.”
Mr Walsh said DPI’s partnership with Dow AgroSciences had already generated more than 40 jobs in agricultural biosciences at AgriBio and Horsham.
“The work these researchers do will deliver even greater benefits to Victoria in the coming years,” Mr Walsh said.
“The Victorian Government has placed a very strong focus on targeted research and development within DPI, to help Victoria’s food and fibre producers meet world demand for food.
“We have a goal to double Victoria’s food and fibre production by 2030 but we cannot help growers step up production unless we co-invest with industry in research, development and extension in our areas of greatest opportunity, and these include grains and oil seeds.”
Dow AgroSciences President and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Galindez said the company was very excited to expand its collaboration with DPI.
“This new project represents a significant step towards the development of commercial products that will enable both organisations to create new solutions for improving agricultural productivity,” Mr Galindez said.
“We have been extremely impressed with the creative and collaborative research relationship that we have developed with the Department over the past few years.
“By expanding that collaboration to focus on commercial product development using EXZACTTM we are continuing to demonstrate our mutual commitment to the creation of novel solutions for the critical challenges agriculture will face in the future,” Mr Galindez said.
Executive Director of Biosciences Research at DPI, Professor German Spangenberg, said Dow AgroSciences was a global leader in agricultural biotechnology and its commitment to research and development of technology solutions for agriculture made it an ideal collaboration partner for DPI scientists.
“The development of this unique technology platform for precision trait improvement in canola and wheat represents a wonderful outcome of these collaborative efforts and combined innovation capacity,” Professor Spangenberg said.
“Its deployment will lead to enhanced genetics in these major crops of great importance for Australian grain growers.”

Victoria‟s new $288 million Centre for AgriBiosciences at Bundoora is now officially open with Premier Denis Napthine touring the cutting edge facility and meeting some of the 400 world-leading scientists who will be working at the centre.
“The work that will be carried out at the AgriBio centre will be of enormous benefit to the Victorian food and fibre industry,” Dr Napthine said.
“The Victorian food and fibre industry produced a record $9 billion in exports in 2011-12 and the Coalition Government is committed to growing this figure through our super trade missions and the work that will take place at AgriBio.
“This facility is one of a kind in Australia and easily ranks among the world‟s best agricultural bioscience research facilities.
“Being at the forefront of innovation in agricultural research will be a massive advantage for our food and fibre producers and will make sure our valuable agricultural industries continue to deliver jobs and economic benefits throughout Victoria,” Dr Napthine said.
Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Peter Walsh said the research undertaken at AgrioBio would lead to significant on-farm productivity gains and new defences against pests and diseases.
“Scientists at AgriBio will be leading the world in gene discoveries in major plant and animal species and accelerated precision breeding technologies,” Mr Walsh said.
“They will also be at the cutting edge of biological control and other management strategies for weeds, plant and animal pests and serious diseases.
“Victoria is already a national frontrunner in dairy, lamb and grains research with centres of excellence at Ellinbank, Hamilton and Horsham, and AgriBio will complement those centres and help spread our leadership to other commodities.
“Victoria has a goal to double food and fibre production by 2030 and this will only be achieved through investment now in research, development and extension of the kind that will be undertaken here at AgriBio,” Mr Walsh said.
Minister for Major Projects David Hodgett said the facility was Australia‟s only integrated agriculture biosciences research centre.
“AgriBio has been specifically designed to enhance collaboration between scientists, and to facilitate a multidisciplinary approach to issues of local, national and international importance,” Mr Hodgett said.
“The facility will increase the competitiveness and sustainability of Victoria‟s agriculture industry.
“The building includes one of Australia‟s largest physical containment level three suites. The pressurised "box within a box‟ design of these suites will allow scientists to safely carry out industry-saving research on hazardous viruses.
“It has also been designed to allow scientists to collaborate freely and transfer knowledge,” Mr Hodgett said.
La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar said the state-of-the-art science centre was an architecturally stunning addition to the Bundoora campus.
“I have no doubt AgriBio will be the crucible of many marvellous new discoveries that will underscore the university‟s already formidable reputation for brilliant research,” Professor Dewar said.
“AgriBio‟s presence will foster new opportunities for collaboration with leading national and international science organisations as well as being a beacon to people all over the world who want to study cutting-edge agricultural bioscience.”
Agribio is a joint venture between the Victorian Coalition Government and La Trobe University, and is located at the university‟s Bundoora campus.

The challenges and opportunities for young people taking up careers in the food and fibre industry will be in the spotlight tomorrow at a forum convened by the Victorian Coalition Government.
Grow Your Food and Fibre Future will be co-hosted at Parliament House by Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh and Higher Education and Skills Minister Peter Hall.
Mr Walsh said the forum would bring together young farmers, leading industry figures and education and finance representatives to discuss how to fulfil agriculture’s potential as a rewarding career for young people.
“A recent parliamentary inquiry into the farming sector’s capacity to attract and retain young people highlighted the opportunities for industry to encourage young people to take up careers in agriculture,” Mr Walsh said.
“The inquiry’s findings emphasised the importance of improving education pathways, promoting the food and fibre sector by industry and improving collaboration between sectors.
“To further this work, the Coalition Government has convened tomorrow’s forum as an opportunity for those who have a stake in the future of the food and fibre industry to come together and develop a clear set of actions for industry to implement.”
The forum will include five discussion groups covering topics highlighted by the inquiry as action areas for industry – the image of agriculture, career pathways, mentoring and networks, employment practices, and new models for business and finance.
The forum will also include a young food and fibre professionals discussion panel focusing on pathways to diverse careers across sectors.
Mr Hall said the latest skills would give farmers new ways of improving their businesses and a competitive edge.
“The skills required to run a farming operation today are very different to those of 30 years ago,” Mr Hall said.
“The next generation of farmers will increasingly use a mix of skills from disciplines such as agronomy, marketing, human resources and business management.
“Victoria will require a generation of farmers with the right skills and abilities. With the right set of skills, there are great opportunities to forge a rewarding career.
“It’s pleasing to see that enrolments in critical courses in agriculture continue to grow, with more and more young people training to be shearers, crop and livestock farmers, arborists and farm managers,” Mr Hall said.
Between 2011 and 2012, enrolments in agriculture continued to grow, with a 63 per cent increase in Certificate IV courses, and an 18 per cent growth in Certificate III courses.
The number of students that enrolled in agriculture as part of a traineeship lifted by 28 per cent.
Mr Hall said the Victorian Skills Gateway at www.education.vic.gov.au/victorianskillsgateway was the best source of information for prospective students about a wide range of occupations and where to get the required training.
“The Gateway provides a platform that industry can use to reach more of the people who will be critical in shaping the career choices of our future farmers,” Mr Hall said.
“The Coalition Government is also undertaking a costing study to test the feasibility of establishing specialist schools for agricultural education at years 11 and 12 and facilitating a statewide young farmer committee to support and strengthen the links between existing young farmer organisations.”
Mr Walsh said the Coalition Government was committed to promoting agriculture as a fulfilling education pathway and career option, and was investing in initiatives to help them become established in the sector.
“Our support for young farmers include the Young Farmer Stamp Duty Scheme, increased funding for the Young Farmer Finance Scheme, the Grow Your Food and Fibre Career campaign and reinvigorating the Victorian Young Farmers organisation,” Mr Walsh said.