August 7, 2003

Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Managing Director, John Lovett, believes the Western Australian State Government’s new $26 million science and innovation package will attract new research investment to the state.

During his nine years as Managing Director, the GRDC has invested approaching $1 billion nationally in grains research and development and Professor Lovett believes Western Australia (WA) could receive a greater share of future investments, thanks to the new package.

“The GRDC invests about $120 million of grower levies and Federal Government funds every year and we are channelling more of those funds towards consolidated research centres which exploit economies of scale to provide the best value,” Professor Lovett said.

We welcome WA’s move to provide similar facilities by combining the resources of Curtin and Murdoch Universities and the University of WA. The new entity will address opportunities in food, agriculture and natural resource management. 

To help sustain WA’s productive grains industry, the GRDC has invested more with the local Department of Agriculture than with any other state research centre. While the GRDC wanted to invest more, Professor Lovett said the Department had recognised that WA’s research capacity must grow to make use of extra funds.

“Rapid progress in the field of biotechnology has raised an unprecedented demand on new research infrastructure,” he noted.

“WA’s move to consolidate  research resources will generate the financial clout to consistently support the best research, while eliminating the risk of partner organisations duplicating each other’s projects.”

The GRDC’s interest in research alliances saw the WA Department of Agriculture join NSW Agriculture, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and the GRDC to form the wheat breeding program, ‘Enterprise Grains Australia’, last year.