A consortium of universities and international companies has launched a bid to make hemp one of the top 10 crops grown in Australia.
The bid to set up a cooperative research centre is being led by the University of Southern Queensland and Professor Kerryn Phelps. The proposed centre already has $50 million in support from industry, with the consortium seeking matched funding from the federal government. University of Southern Queensland Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment executive director Gavin Ash said the consortium wanted to turbocharge research into a crop that had huge potential.
“Hemp was also always seen as one of these industries that had a lot of potential worldwide and was used worldwide,” Professor Ash said.
“But the problem was it threatened other industries and so there was a political movement against it, so we will make hemp great again.”
Gavin Ash says the proposed centre aims to boost hemp production in Australia.(Supplied: University of Southern Queensland)
Professor Ash said there were opportunities to use hemp in health, as a building material and in clothing.
But he said research into hemp lagged about 80 years behind other crops.
Australia legalised hemp for food consumption in 2017.
Professor Ash said joining the supply chain between producers and users was challenging.
“We’re getting a lot of interest from people who want to be able to grow it, but they don’t know who to sell it to,” he said.
“But then we have people who want to produce buildings from hemp, and they don’t know where to get their hemp from.”
Hemp has several uses including in health products, construction and clothing.(Supplied: Good Country Hemp)
Production boost
The consortium wants to see more than 100,000 hectares of hemp grown in Australia over the next decade.
According to a report by AgriFutures, Australia’s production of hemp was about 2,300 hectares in 2020-21.
Professor Kerryn Phelps has been chosen as the cooperative research centre’s chair-elect due to her long-standing connection with hemp and medicinal cannabis as well as her support for the environmental benefits of the crop.
Professor Ash said Professor Phelps, a former federal member of parliament, would bring her expertise as a politician and author to the role.
“I am incredibly excited by the potential of this emerging industry and the active collaboration of our industry partners in the bid development,” Professor Phelps said.
Kerryn Phelps will lead the consortium of Australian universities and international companies.(Supplied: University of Southern Queensland)
World power
The Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance, which is involved in the bid, said it was a coming of age for the industry.
“When this bid gets approved, which I hope it will, then we will gear up growth in the hemp industry in Australia,” alliance president James Vosper said.
Mr Vosper said the centre had the potential to turn Australia into a world power in hemp.
The consortium includes Southern Cross University, University of Western Sydney, Deakin University, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, and companies from Canada, Fiji, India, and Europe.
If successful in gaining federal government support, work to set up the centre could begin as early as mid-2023.