House debates

Monday, 23 October 2017

Statements by Members

Gretals Australia Pty Ltd

4:20 pm

Photo of Chris CrewtherChris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

We're very lucky in Dunkley to have a number of brilliant innovators, and with each one that I visit I am more and more impressed with our local talent, skill and ability to innovate. Recently I met with Gretals Australia, another fantastically innovative company based in Mornington. Gretals specialise in developing highly innovative pharmaceuticals and new technologies in collaboration with their partners across Australia and around the globe; for example, they developed glucosamine, which has had amazing results in Australia and across the world. I met with the CEO of Gretals, Alistair Cumming, to discuss how they will benefit from the $50,000 grant they recently received under the government's Global Connections Fund, part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda, as well as other federal funding they've recently received.

Recently Gretals have been working on a new soil analysis system that would allow farmers to identify issues with soil quality in a matter of minutes, as currently it can take several days to have soil analysis conducted and results returned. This technology would allow farmers to have higher success rates with their crops and higher yields of produce. It would mean that treatment of contaminants could happen much faster, ensuring that the health of the crop or livestock is maintained.

I congratulate Gretals Australia on their work and on the receipt of their grant. I look forward to their continued success and advances.