We must seize opportunities

Opportunity is a word many bandy around, especially in a world where an enterprising idea evolves into reality, bringing with it a spur for socio-economic development.

We also often use the phrase ‘missed opportunity’ if it quickly becomes apparent we, to use an old expression, have been guilty of ‘sitting on our hands’.

In an editorial in our May 27, 2020 edition, The Weekly Advertiser wrote how it hoped the State Government, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was staying in tune with multi-million-dollar regional development projects.

It particularly made reference to agricultural manufacturing firm Australian Plant Proteins, which was consolidating its position in Horsham and looking to expand operations, potentially with a greenfield site in the Wimmera municipality.

But as we said at the time, ‘Australian Plant Protein’s leaders have more than hinted that doing business with Victoria is far from embracing or encouraging and as a result has now broadened its next-stage expansion considerations to include other broadacre-farming states. We have to ask whether the State Government, through regional development and agriculture leadership, has left all stones unturned in working to keep this expansion in Victoria. This is serious and goes well beyond the old ‘the state stops at Ballarat’ rhetoric’.

We heard last week that Australian Plant Proteins, while confirming it would maintain a profound presence in Horsham and Victoria, had signed a major expansion deal with South Australian and federal governments and other partners.

You can draw your own conclusions. It’s good news that a Horsham-born manufacturing firm has done so well that it has expanded interstate.

But it’s also disappointing the firm’s best expansion opportunities and support were interstate.

This is not a case of something the State Government has done wrong. It’s a more a case of the State Government doing nothing.

Australian Plant Proteins has a reputation of generating its own steam, but of course it would have been foolish to ignore significant project and financial overtures from state leaders.

The Victorian government developed its regional partnership system to have more efficient and greater clarity of regional priorities and opportunities.

This of course doesn’t mean it should rely on partnerships spoon-feeding it information on issues or projects it should already understand. If it did understand, it would be hard to believe it wouldn’t be proactive in trying to keep a manufacturing firm’s expansion plans and accompanying jobs and economic stimulus within Victoria.

It was clearly evident from a media conference led by their Premier Steven Marshall that the South Australians had long identified the potential.

Luckily, Australian Plant Proteins, which has based the whole concept of turning pulses into high-value protein powder from a Wimmera idea, has declared plans to continue to grow its Horsham operations.

The Victorian government’s radar can be pretty good at spotting issues, opportunities and potential across various sectors. But boy, it sometimes misses the obvious.