Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Member for Solomon, I do not think they produce wine in Darwin but they certainly drink a lot of it; there is no doubt about that. They drink some very high quality Adelaide Hills wine in Darwin—the sav blanc suits those sorts of climatic conditions perfectly. I imagine the member for Solomon would enjoy that before his pints of beer.

I rise to speak this evening in support of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Amendment Bill 2009 and its passage through this place. Of course, the member for Kingston will agree that the wine industry is extremely important to South Australia. It is not without its challenges at this time, whether it be in the Adelaide Hills, in Langhorne Creek, in Fleurieu or indeed in McLaren Vale. It is a hugely important industry to our economy and to Australia’s economy as well and is driven very much from South Australia through the Barossa Valley and the other regions—including Coonawarra, of course, in the seat of the member for Barker. It employs many South Australians. It has many small family businesses. Many larger businesses are involved in the industry as well.

In my electorate there are about 450 of South Australia’s wine-producing establishments, with a rough value to our economy of about $300 million per annum. We have about 16 per cent of South Australia’s wine industry, which in 2007-08 was worth about $1.8 billion to the South Australian economy. In anyone’s language, that is a very important industry to our state, so if there is good legislation before the parliament we will support it to ensure that the industry is stronger than it was before.

We support this bill as it provides for a much-needed amendment to the current legislation. It will bring the Australia-European Community Agreement on Trade in Wine into force. This agreement was signed in Brussels on 1 December 2008 by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The amendments are strongly supported by the industry, including the Winemakers Federation of Australia. I have spoken to Stephen Strachan about this issue; in fact, he appeared before the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties when this issue was before that committee and gave it his strong endorsement. He is a very strong representative of the wine industry in Australia and in particular in South Australia. He has a very large soft spot for the wine industry in South Australia and is a great supporter.

The agreement ensures that winemakers have ongoing access to Australia’s largest export market. During 2007-08 Australia exported to European countries 397 million litres of wine worth $1.3 billion, accounting for just over half of Australia’s wine exports that year. The amendments will give Australian wine producers European recognition of an additional 16 Australian winemaking techniques and simpler arrangements for approving such techniques that may develop in the future.

The bill provides simplified label requirements and protection for Australia’s 112 registered geographic indicators. Secondly, it further strengthens the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act by protecting Australia’s reputation as a quality wine producer through the Label Integrity Program. The program was originally established to increase consumer confidence in labelling. Finally, the bill provides for tough offence provisions and proposed penalties, which include imprisonment, for breaches. These will enhance and improve industry compliance. In that respect, we support the bill.

I will use this occasion to make some remarks about the challenges that the industry faces in my electorate and more broadly in South Australia. They are significant challenges. The first, of course, is the ongoing challenge with water and access to water in South Australia, which is all tied to how much we get across the border—how much is allowed to flow down through Queensland and New South Wales and how much is taken out in Victoria. We have an ongoing and major interest in the activities of those states, and we are of course continually disappointed by the failure of this government to have a truly national system which can regulate the use of and access to water by those eastern states, which do tend to take more than their fair share, in our view. That has flow-on effects for industries like mine in Langhorne Creek, which is right next to the Lower Lakes, in South Australia, and we are therefore continually interested. That is why I was very pleased that the Leader of the Opposition announced some time ago that when we are elected to government, if we cannot get the state premiers to agree to hand over their powers in relation to the management of Australia’s water, we will hold a referendum to ensure that that will be the case. That is a major ongoing challenge.

The more immediate challenge for the wine industry is the glut, which is going to affect many producers throughout the state. The Riverland is facing the double whammy of the glut and the restrictions on irrigation. This is also affecting other regions, but probably not so much. There were reports over the weekend that the Barossa and other regions, including Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale, are looking at pulling out up to 20 per cent of their vines. That will have a real effect on many of the workers, on the industry and on small businesses. While consumers will benefit over the next few years from lower prices for very high-quality South Australian wine, we will have to go through a very difficult period where many people will face some very challenging economic circumstances. It is important that governments both state and federal are aware of this and ready to assist those people if necessary. I know that Steven Strachan and the Winemakers Federation are working very hard with government to ensure that the industry is managed properly so that we do not have communities destroyed by the situation relating to the glut. It is something we need to continue to watch and face up to. I went to the Langhorne Creek winemakers’ lunch on 30 April this year. It is always a very enjoyable day. Winemakers expressed concern about the industry and the impact of the glut. Added to that are the water challenges that South Australia faces. The winemakers are very conscious of the impact that that is having on an extremely important industry in South Australia. I commend the bill to the House.

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