Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the outset I commend the member for Braddon, who I know is the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, because he has consulted industry on this legislation and I commend him for that. All too often in this place we have seen bills rushed through on which there has not been proper consultation with industry. In this case I know the member for Braddon has been dutiful in his portfolio area by actually consulting with industry, which is commendable. He represents a regional area in north-west Tasmania and, as far as regions go, he gets it. There are all too few people in this parliament who 'get' regional Australia, which is a unique place. There are so many people who live on the eastern fringe of Australia, overrepresented in terms of population and, dare I suggest, in the number of parliamentarians too.

Those of us who live beyond the sandstone curtain understand regional Australia and also understand the complexities, the unique challenges and the risks going forward. One of the risks is to our agricultural sector, so I am pleased that the parliamentary secretary has seen fit to consult industry. I served with him on the Regional Australia Committee, headed by the member for New England, and the member for Braddon was the deputy chair of our inquiry into the Murray-Darling Basin and the challenges facing that vital part of regional Australia—that food bowl of not only our nation but other nations too. Thanks to a bipartisan approach, the committee did some good work. The wine industry made a very good submission to the inquiry and, had all the committee's recommendations been adopted, I think we would have had a better outcome as far as the water rights debate was concerned.

As far as this particular legislation is concerned, the three bills which we are debating as cognates amend the Wine Australia Corporation Act 1980, the Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Act of 1997 and the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies 1997 to formulate the merger of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and the Wine Australia Corporation to establish a new wine statutory body, the Australian Grape and Wine Authority. Like the parliamentary secretary and like the member for Calare—who is the shadow agriculture minister and, more importantly, the food security shadow minister—I too have done my due diligence and consulted with various industry groups and individuals within my electorate.

My electorate has a huge stake in the future of the wine industry. Members of the Riverina Winemakers Association include five of Australia's 16 largest wine exporters—namely Casella Wines, De Bortoli, McWilliam's, Nugan Estate and Warburn Estate. The Riverina wineries produce around a quarter of Australia's wine and the region grows around 20 per cent of the nation's grapes. The Riverina wine industry is worth around $1 billion and is a huge export earner. In fact the Yellowtail, which is produced by Casella Wines Pty Ltd and based at Yenda, in 2003 was the No. 1 imported wine to the United States of America. That is a tremendous achievement by a once-small and humble winery at Yenda in the Riverina. The winery has a capacity of about 300 million litres a year at its Yenda site. The Yellowtail label—with that very familiar yellow-footed rock wallaby—is synonymous with so many good dinner parties, certainly in the United States. John Casella, the proprietor of that wonderful company, is grateful that the Australian dollar is softening—today it is 92.52 cents—and also commends this legislation. He has been watching it carefully, but he is not opposed to it, because he sees the merit in it. The Winemakers Association is similarly supportive. I spoke to the Riverina Grape Marketing Board's industry development officer, Kristy Bartrop, just a few moments ago. She said that it will be a good thing when the money that is going to be spent on promotion and tourism and on research and development is fused together—so long as the R&D side is not diluted by the promotional side. We know that in all aspects of agriculture—indeed, in all aspects of business—that R&D is vitally important. We can never underestimate the value of R&D to ensure that industry not only survives but also prospers. Speaking of surviving and prospering into the future, I would like to take a moment—with the indulgence of the member for Braddon, who has heard this before—to mention the Riverina Winemakers Association submission to the Murray-Darling Basin. Water is crucial for the Riverina, and the new statutory board will also understand just how important water is as a component in the future of the wine industry in the Riverina. I have told the House before just how big that market is, not only to the Riverina's overall exports, but also to Australia's.

In its submission to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority on 17 December 2010, the Riverina Winemakers Association said in relation to water:

There are a number of long term risks in taking a quick fix route:

I talked before about John Cobb, the member for Calare, and his role in food security. Certainly, food security is very much on the coalition's radar. The Riverina Winemakers further points were:

So the Riverina Winemakers Association highlighted the need to ensure that ecotourism, marketing and tourism do not completely wash over the R&D component research funding necessity. The Winemakers Association also told the Murray-Darling Basin Authority:

I might add that the demand for the wine will continue to grow as well. The submission went on with these points:

The association finished its submission by saying:

The problem is that the environmental genie is out of the bottle. Now that the Plan has determined the range of environmental water needs, unless there are modifications to the Water Act that will allow a more balanced plan, there will be constant agitation for further reviews and harsher implementation of SDLs—

sustainable diversion limits—

until the maximum needs of the environment are achieved.

Certainly I have no argument with the Winemakers Association there and I thank the member for Braddon for allowing me to put that on the record. He has heard it before because, as I say, he was on the Regional Australia Committee which spent time in Griffith and the Riverina and heard from those people who do such a wonderful job not just on behalf of the locals but on behalf of the nation and our exports.

The merger of the two existing wine statutory bodies would see the following benefits: it would create an ability to identify and deliver aligned industries strategic imperatives and R&D goals, management efficiency of program delivery and associated cost savings to government and the industry. That is important because the industry, like all agricultural industries and all regional industries, is hurting at the moment. The high Australian dollar and a crisis in confidence in regional Australia brought about by any number of factors are really having an effect on the psyche of people in regional Australia and certainly on business confidence. When those business confidence parameters are down, people are not willing to invest and they are not willing to spend. There is, hopefully, an opportunity into the future that things will improve. The softening Australian dollar is one thing that will go a long way to ensuring that confidence in regional Australia, which relies so much on exports, particularly in agriculture, will improve.

Another benefit of merging these two statutory bodies will be a streamlined functional relationship between industry and government. That is important. I said at the outset of this speech that government has not consulted with industry enough on so many levels and so many aspects of legislation. I thank the member for Braddon for consulting with industry, because it is important. Industry need to feel not only that they are participants in the parliament but also that what they do is actually worth something. How they go about achieving and generating income and, indeed, taxes for us as a government and as a Commonwealth to spend is really important, and they need to know that their worth to the nation is valued.

Another benefit will be genuine accountability to industry at the same time as meeting government requirements. That, too, is very important. Another benefit is improved communication and strategic alignment between the national associations and the new merged entity. That, too, is absolutely critical, because the wine industry does play an important part. As I said, it has been under a lot of pressure lately, not helped by the high Australian dollar, the global downturn or poor public policy, including on water. Water, as we all know, is critical to the Riverina and to all winemaking areas. Getting those parameters right is going to be critical for the future success of the winemaking industry. It is certainly a valuable industry to the Riverina.

Whilst I highlighted the Riverina side of things, as far as the Riverina Winemakers Association goes, there are also a number of boutique wineries in the cold climate of the Riverina electorate, which I serve. I am talking about those at Tumbarumba and other parts of the Snowy Mountains, because the Riverina electorate stretches from Mount Kosciuszko right out to the fringe of the outback beyond Hillston. The former regional Australia minister, the member for Hotham, once described it as the high point of the Australian parliament because Mount Kosciuszko is in the actual electorate. I rather thought he meant it was because of its value to regional Australia. I am certain that he is a friend of regional Australia, and certainly of the Riverina, because he visited there on a number of occasions during the time he held that portfolio. He was certainly very interested in the fortunes of the Riverina, because he recognised the value of the region to our nation's exports.

I finalise on a rather sombre note: today I telephoned Brian Simpson, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Riverina Wine Grape Marketing Board, in relation to this matter and, very sadly, in the last hour, his wife Liza had passed away after a very courageous fight against cancer. I wish to pass on my condolences to Brian and his family at this very sad point in time.

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