Lowan electorate
Ms KEALY (Lowan) (14:34): (6248) My question is to the Minister for Regional Development. Why didn’t the minister meet with Australian Plant Proteins and provide the associated funding support to enable expansion of this fabulous local manufacturing business and keep over 1000 jobs in Victoria? Recently APP, Australian Plant Proteins, announced they were going to undertake their expansion of facilities in South Australia—take it to Adelaide—rather than grow that, potentially, within my local electorate. This is research that was based in our local area and undertaken at Grains Innovation Park. It is something I have spoken about in Parliament on many occasions. It is extracting protein from legumes and pulses and utilising this in food products. It is a great product. It is a great opportunity to build jobs locally; however, the minister refused to meet with them. We missed out on this fabulous opportunity, and so I ask the minister: why wouldn’t she meet them, and why wasn’t the additional funding support provided to this important manufacturing facility?