Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I note the reminiscences of the member for Hotham, which did reflect back over long experience. I know of his time in parliament, but we are in the here and now, and it is important that we all recognise that. I do note his comments about export markets for wine. The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2007 is not about those things. It is a straightforward bill about governance and, without getting into semantics, about the principles of how you govern a statutory authority to do the most responsible job for the Australian taxpayer. It is not about the substance or the subject matter of that statutory authority. That is what I am summing up here this morning on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

I am going to take a moment to demonstrate that the Australian government in fact is an active supporter of the growth of our Australian wine industry and its access to export markets. I note that, in keeping with the opposition’s lack of understanding about the water crisis in the southern Murray-Darling basin, the member for Hotham did not mention the single critical factor facing every wine grower in Australia today, and that is lack of water. Rather than reflecting on many years past—the past is history and cannot be changed; only the future can be—water is what wine growers are desperate about at the moment. We as a government are working with them so that, if there is some water in the system, we will do whatever we can to save their permanent plantings.

As for our support for the wine industry, the government has negotiated through the World Wine Trade Group a wine labelling agreement which will provide savings of about $25 million a year to the Australian industry by harmonising the labelling requirements in key export markets, including the US. I think everyone would agree that this is a vital step to take. A wine industry summit was held in June 2006, and of course it recognised that there was no quick-fix solution. However, some measures were put forward and taken. They include: extending the wine equalisation tax rebate to the first $1.7 million in sales at a cost of $126 million over four years; providing $10.1 million in Austrade export market development grants for wine export activities in the 2005-06 financial year—the member for Hotham mentioned those; they are important; they are part of the bigger picture—and providing matching payments for industry research through the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation of approximately $12 million in the 2005-06 financial year. Also, in specific locations across the country, such as Mildura-Wentworth—an area in my electorate and that of the member for Mallee, John Forrest—$500,000 will be put towards studies to support approaches to improving the operation of irrigated horticulture and communities. There is $200,000 for the Wine Grape Growers Association to help them assess their current situation and develop targeted activities, and $197,000 for the Winemakers Federation of Australia to fund projects to help boost winery tourism.

I want to put that on the record and also say that, yes, on another occasion, I can happily talk about our support for exports, but I reiterate that that is not what this bill is about. The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation is an Australian government statutory authority. It plays an important role in supporting Australia’s wine industry. It provides strategic marketing information and analysis, export and labelling regulation, advice on trade and market access and the identification and protection of our distinctive wine regions. The production and sale of wine have grown to be a very significant industry in Australia, with approximately 2,000 wineries generating annual sales of $4.7 billion in the 2006 financial year.

In 1981 when the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation was formed, Australia produced 366 million litres of wine, of which just 7.5 million litres was exported. In 2005-06, Australia sold 1.1 billion litres of wine, including exports of 722 million litres valued at $2.8 billion. Wine is now Australia’s third largest food export. In spite of the tough times, it is an incredible industry with an incredible contribution to make to Australian agriculture and our export markets generally.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry assesses the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation against the Uhrig board template. The assessment recommended a small number of changes to bring it in line with the Uhrig review recommendations. The assessment concluded that the position of government member on the AWBC board should be discontinued and that, given this, the skill set for board member selection should be expanded to include expertise in public administration. This change removes the potential for conflict of interest for serving public servants between their responsibilities to the minister and to the board. This is consistent with the changes being made to the eight statutory rural research and development corporations.

The bill also includes a provision for the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Selection Committee to provide the minister for agriculture with an annual report on its operations. The bill will strengthen the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation’s governance and accountability framework and maintain its capacity to work collaboratively with the Australian wine industry to market and promote Australian wine. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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