Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to advise the House that a Tasmanian company, Walnuts Australia, has recently won the agribusiness category at the 51st Australian Export Awards presented in Melbourne at the end of last month. The awards follow Walnuts Australia's success in the same awards as the Emerging Exporter last year.

The award recognises and honours Australian companies doing international business who have achieved sustainable growth through innovation and commitment. The awards are impressive for a company with such humble beginnings. Not so long ago, Webster Ltd chief executive John Hosken, as head of Walnuts Australia's parent company, said the business started from a small walnut tree nursery at Forth on Tasmania's north-west coast in my colleague the member for Braddon's electorate in the late 1980s.

Walnuts Australia now manages 620 hectares of orchards in Tasmania and 615 hectares within the Riverina, totalling 700,000 trees. When mature, these orchards will produce more than 11,000 tonnes of walnuts. The walnuts end up on the tables of customers in Germany, Italy, Turkey and China, with many opportunities to expand the domestic market here in Australia as well.

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