More farmers should be allowed to grow hemp in Victoria, according to Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP Rachel Payne.
Ms Payne, an MP for the South-Eastern Metropolitan electoral area, said providing legislation to allow the greater development of the hemp industry was part of "sowing the seeds for Victoria's future".
She made her comments while introducing the Hemp Industry 2024 bill to parliament this week.
The bill re-enacts, with amendments, the law relating to the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp in Victoria for certain authorised purposes.
It was aimed at creating a standalone act to deal with industrial hemp, and to amend the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981, which contains existing provisions relating to industrial hemp.
The new hemp bill retained the existing provisions surrounding hemp - dealing with authorities, hemp uses, conditions of growth, licence renewals, inspections, and suspensions.
One of the key things it changed was the length of the licence which can be granted for hemp production from three to five years.
Describing her bill, Ms Payne suggested that there were parliamentarians afraid of what she said was in no uncertain terms, a dried stick - hemp.
"Victoria, unlike almost all other states, does not have a standalone industrial hemp act," she said.
She said there were only six hemp growers in the entire state.
"Worse still, much of what we produce is exported offshore for processing," she said.
"We are lagging behind other states and even further behind the rest of the world."
However, Ms Payne said attitudes were changing and there was a resurgence of hemp globally as its thousands of uses were rediscovered.
She said the international market for industrial hemp was projected to grow to $18.6 billion by 2027.
"The opportunities are endless, but hemp could have a role to play in revitalising national manufacturing, providing countless local jobs and building more environmentally friendly housing," she said.
The Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP highlighted the work of the inquiry into the industrial hemp industry in Victoria.
"This inquiry investigated the barriers and opportunities faced by Victoria's industrial hemp industry and how this government could offer better support," she said.
"Unsurprisingly, this inquiry found numerous areas for improvement.
"And that is exactly why today, I introduce the Hemp Industry Bill 2024."
Ms Payne said the new bill updated the language in the existing regulation to "signal the legitimacy of the [hemp] crop and reduce stigma".
She called for cross-party support of the bill and said it would go some way towards addressing the issues highlighted by the inquiry.
The Victorian government also has only until the end of May to respond to the inquiry's findings.
The proposed legislation will return to parliament in two week's time for further debate.
