The nursery levy exists to provide funding for research, development and marketing projects for the benefit of the Australian greenlife industry. Levy payers, as industry representatives, have a vital part to play in assessing which projects merit funding and providing advice to government. For many years, this process has been managed by Hort Innovation, the research and development corporation tasked with managing the collection and distribution of levy funds, through the Strategic Investment Advice Panel (SIAP).
Your industry representatives on the SIAP are:
- Karen Brock (Brocklands Nursery, TAS)
- Sonja Cameron (Cameron’s Nursery, NSW)
- Carole Fudge (Benara Nurseries, WA)
- Hamish Mitchell (Speciality Trees, VIC)
- Anthony Tesselaar (Tesselaar, VIC)
The SIAP meets several times every time. As you might expect, there are always more project proposals than there are funds available. The SIAP must therefore consider each proposal carefully and judge which offers most benefit to industry. SIAP members are required to have the expertise, skill and knowledge to be able to judge the merits of each proposal, many of which are complex and technical. As an observer at SIAP meetings, I have been privileged to witness the careful thought and consideration given to every project proposal by each panel member.
Last year, Hort Innovation Australian signalled its intention to reset and refresh how the provision of investment advice should work, with the aim of giving industry greater control of the process. From 1 July, GIA will be responsible for managing the levy investment advice process. Levy payers will be front and centre in this new system, with Hort Innovation taking more of a back seat with responsibility for the governance of the new arrangements. The change presents an exciting opportunity for the greenlife sector and in future issues. I will be telling you how you can get involved.
Meanwhile, it is important that we pay tribute to the achievements of the SIAP. Since 2017, the SIAP has given life to 150 projects involving $18m of levy investment. The projects have varied enormously in scale, complexity and length and have covered a huge range of topics from training to data studies to consumer marketing programs. The roles of panel members, which have not always been well understood, demand a lot of time and carry huge responsibility. The final SIAP meeting took place in Sydney last week, and we paid tribute to the contributions of Karen, Sonja, Carole, Hamish and Anthony. Please join me in giving thanks to them.
Jo Cave,
CEO