Tasmanian hemp industry gets priority from State Government

By Lucy Shannon
Source: abc.net.au


This house at Table Cape in NW Tasmania was built using imported hemp

The establishment of an industrial hemp industry in Tasmania will be a government priority, State Minister for Primary Industries Jeremy Rockliff has pledged.

Farmers have been trying to grow industrial hemp for fibre for years but have struggled with regulatory hurdles.

Mr Rockliff said there was far too much red tape associated with growing hemp, more so even than with the pharmaceutical poppy industry.

"In terms of reporting and paperwork, so the balance is not right there ... we need to make it easier," he said.

However, Mr Rockliff said the fledgling industry also had a responsibility.

"It's up to the hemp industry to actually grow the markets; it's up to the Government to get out of the way to let them do it a bit easier," he said.

"It's in the developmental stage at the moment, but there's huge opportunity there in my view, both from a fibre point of view, which is a broader commodity, to that within food products."

Farmers, graziers favour hemp industry

Jan Davis from the Farmers and Graziers Association said the restrictions on growing hemp were unique to Tasmania.

We could sell as much hemp as we could grow tomorrow, it's the regulations that are stopping us from growing it on a commercial scale

Jan Davis, Farmers and Graziers Association

"You can grow industrial hemp in most other places in Australia without anywhere near the drama that goes on here, and that's bizarre because we are such ... reliable producers of opium poppies, which is clearly a more dangerous crop," she said.

Ms Davis said there was huge demand for hemp fibre based products that Tasmania was well placed to meet.

"We could sell as much hemp as we could grow tomorrow; it's the regulations that are stopping us from growing it on a commercial scale."

Talks on medical cannabis trials due

The discussion about industrial uses of hemp comes as a Tasmanian company is proposing growing cannabis in the state for medical use.

Tasman Health Cannabanoids hopes to run medical trials through the University of Tasmania soon.

State Health Minister Michael Ferguson is due to meet with the company tomorrow.

The highly successful poppy industry is cautious about the establishment of any hemp industry.

Glynn Williams from Poppy Growers Tasmania said he was concerned about Tasmania's reputation.

"Poppy growers and Tasmanian farmers are very proud of the fact that we have over the last four decades established a narcotic supply industry which has one of the best reputations you could get," he said.

"We have what we would consider a triple-A rating for safeguards and regulatory control.

"The last thing we want to see is young Tasmanians influenced by drug pushing dope smokers and so we've got to make sure as a community that we've got to have the right regulations and the right enforcement mechanisms to stop that from happening."