Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is also a pleasure for me to speak on the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Amendment Bill 2009. It has wide support across the parliament and also across the industry and the sector. It has that support because it is a sensible bill that brings into line a number of agreements between Australia and the European Community on our trade in wine, which has been a long time in development. While in 2008 and 2004 there were particular agreements, this bill in 2010 brings into line some gaps in those previous bills. The amendments in this bill are good and provide some clarity on definitions, particularly, as we have heard from other speakers on this bill—and I will not traipse over the same territory—in terms of geographic indicators of where wine originates, countries of origin and so forth.

There are a number of important points to make. Traditional thinking in this country would probably tell people that it was the Europeans rather than Australia who were trying to protect their wine brands, their labels and their geographical indicators. But I am more than happy to say that I think that balance sheet is truly now pointing more in our favour. Australia now wants to protect its geographical indicators, brands and labelling and provide that confidence and security so that when people overseas buy Australian wine it is exactly what it says it is—it is labelled correctly, there is the assurance of quality and there are all of those things that Australia is very famous for.

People may be surprised to realise that 60 per cent of Australia’s production of wine is exported and that Australia’s exports to the European Community represent 397 million litres of wine with a value of about $1.3 billion, which is quite substantial. In comparison, we only import approximately 17 million litres of wine with a value of about $197 million. That is probably not what people traditionally think of as the balance of trade in wine between our countries. I fully accept the principle that places like Champagne in France want to protect that particular name and that particular product and what it represents as much as we in Australia want to protect brands such as Penfolds, Henschke or others—Three Rivers, for example, which is probably not that well known to many people even in Australia but is one of our most famous Australian labels—in different areas.

We have heard a number of people speak about the importance of this bill in amending the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act. It has gone through a proper review process and, as I said, it is well supported. In fact, there are a number of letters to the minister congratulating the minister and supporting this bill. It does the right things for not only our trade with the European community but also Australian wine. It also meets all of our international obligations under the World Trade Organisation—obligations that Australia is doing very well in keeping in order. The bill is also, as I said before, quite important in preventing the misuse of Australian labels.

It is also important to note the significant advantages that this legislation brings to Australian wine producers, not only in the wine itself but also in the technology that we export overseas. It may surprise a number of people, but countries like France and others are regular users of Australian winemaking technology, and have been for a number of years. We bring to the table expertise in manufacturing processes, in consistent quality and in procedures. We have for quite a number of years been exporting our technology, which is reimported to Australia through the product.

We heard before a number of comments from the member for Kingston, who has a very famous winemaking region in her electorate in South Australia, and from the member for Forde, who spoke about Queensland wines. I too am from Queensland, and the quality and level of winemaking that we have in Queensland is probably not well-known even in that state. It is not famous for it today, but I think sometime in the future Queensland wine will be known for its quality. I recently did a wine tour with a group of branch members just up the road, in the electorate of Forde. We went to the Tamborine Mountain winery area. I was actually quite surprised at the level of quality at the cellar doors, not just in the white wines, which tend to be traditionally better than the reds, but also in the reds. What I found there was a thriving industry, creating local tourism, and a real bonus to the area. I have to be honest—I had not expected the quality of wine that I found; it is something that can be promoted right across Australia and even overseas.

We have other wine success stories much closer to my electorate in Ipswich. Warrego Wines and others for a number of years have been working on wine technology, consistency and quality. They are using mixed grapes from a variety of regions and crushing on site grapes that they grow locally. Again, these boutique wines may not be well known across Australia but they are certainly very good quality. Wines that we export overseas are probably more famous internationally than they are in their own home state.

All in all, we have a thriving wine and grape industry in Australia. It is great for us locally in terms of tourism and great for Australian produce. Due to the sheer numbers and volume that we export internationally, the industry needs to be properly administered and protected, and that is what this bill does. As I said earlier, it is supported across the House, it is bipartisan and it was done in consultation with the sector. I commend the bill to the House.

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