Farmland in Tasmania's North-West will be transformed from today as we turn on the tap to Tasmania's latest irrigation scheme, the Dial Blythe.
I am pleased to officially open the scheme today with the
Federal Member for Braddon Brett Whitely, Tasmanian Irrigation and many of the
local farmers who will benefit.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to our long-term Plan of supporting
economic growth and job creation by investing in our competitive strengths.
This is why we have invested $30 million in the five tranche two irrigation schemes, which was matched by farmers, and the Federal Government committed $60 million
Agriculture is one of our greatest competitive strengths, generating more than $1.1 billion dollars at the farm gate and employing more than 7,000 Tasmanians.
Delivering reliable water to our farmers is a key part of our AgriVision 2050 plan, to grow our agricultural sector tenfold by 2050.
Irrigation is strengthening our regional communities and creating jobs on farms and in our country towns, like those tapping into this Dial Blythe scheme from today.
Throughout the construction of this scheme more than 50 full time jobs were created, and now that it's complete, it's expected to create 70 direct and 35 indirect farm jobs.
Importantly, it will support more than 40 farmers, and will particularly benefit growers of pyrethrum, poppies, blueberries and raspberries, potatoes, carrots, onions, broccoli, peas, beans and dairy.
This will have huge positive impact on the North-West and the wider Tasmanian economy.
This is the eighth of 15 schemes to be developed by Tasmanian Irrigation, and comes just a fortnight after the Prime Minister visited Tasmania to confirm Federal funding for the second tranche of five schemes.
This scheme is a true partnership between Government and farmers, with $11 million in Federal and State funding, plus $3.4 million from farmers by way of water entitlements.
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