Bulletin

Issue: March 2006

News

$20 million AgriBiosciences Centre opens at La Trobe

Australian agricultural and biotechnology industries can expect significant benefits from La Trobe University research to be developed at the new $20 million Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre.

The research includes helping plants survive drought and cold, boosting their salt tolerance, controlling when crops flower, enhancing crop yields, reducing crop losses to pest and diseases and improving quality.

A dozen La Trobe University staff members and some 25 postgraduate scholars are involved in research projects connected with the new centre.

Located on the University’s R&D Park on the main Melbourne campus at Bundoora, the centre houses a cluster of academic, government and commercial research and development groups. It was opened in mid-February by the Premier, Mr Steve Bracks.

The ceremony was also attended by the Minister for Innovation, Mr John Brumby, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Bob Cameron, the New Zealand Trade Commissioner, Mr Mark Ingram, and the Japanese Consul General, Mr Shisei Kaku. More than 400 bioscientists, politicians and agricultural leaders attended the ceremony.

La Trobe University provided $12 million towards the new building. The State Government’s contribution was $5 million from the Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development and $2.8 million from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.

La Trobe Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brian Stoddart, welcomed the arrival of the VABC as ‘a major building block in the future profile and development of the University.’

‘With the strong support of the State Government, VABC is set to make a really big mark on the way in which the University approaches its research, innovation and commercialisation.’

Professor Stoddart said the VABC was a model and principal symbol of genuinely collaborative partnerships between the University, government and industry. ‘An incredible amount of work between the parties, and within the various institutions involved, has gone into making it a reality.’

Premier Bracks said biotechechnology was one of the most important sources of innovation and growth for Victoria.

‘This centre will help us harness that innovation and drive that growth even further. It will do so by enhancing food production and as a consequence create high-quality high-skilled jobs.

‘It is a great investment in the future of our state and our country and we are very proud and pleased to be a partner with you in this important project,’ Mr Bracks said.

Mr Brumby said agriculture was of critical importance to the Victorian economy. With 30 per cent of Australia’s food production in Victoria, he estimated the State’s Farm Dependent Economy to be worth more than $20 billion, employing 131,000 people in direct and related industries.

Mr Brumby said the State government had also joined with the University in the Centre for Research and Training in Environmental Sciences – which includes the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre in both Wodonga and Mildura – plus the $28million Victorian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics at the main Melbourne campus at Bundoora.

‘As well, you have the Microarray Consortium, which is based here at La Trobe University, and the Bioinformatics Consortium, giving a cluster at this University which is genuinely world-class and which will attract the best scientists from around Australia and from around the world.

‘It is a credit to La Trobe University that this precinct is becoming well-known for its strong links between research and development, and then translating that into ag-biotech and commercial applications.’

Professor Stoddart said over the next two years La Trobe will put an additional $15 million of its own money into research development to maintain its national competitiveness and lift even further its already high international profile and international competitiveness.

‘We have major capability already in the broad field of bioscience and that field is well-identified as one of our major growth areas.’