Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much for the contributions from the members for Calare, Paterson, Hughes, Wakefield—and particularly from my colleague and friend the member for Riverina. Thanks for your commitment and that of others in this chamber to regional Australia and for your support for this legislation. I assure the member for Riverina that there will be no dilution of R&D at the hands of or to the exclusion of marketing. That is not the intention here—in fact, it is the very opposite. Please be assured of that.

I will just give it some context. We are dealing with what appears on the surface to be a dry piece of legislation but which is absolutely crucial to the industry. I have actually got a specialist wine-growing area in my electorate of Braddon. I want to mention one particular white wine specialty vineyard, Ghost Rock at Port Sorell, and also the vineyards in the Lower Barrington. We are developing a really good reputation for these lovely, cool-climate wines.

Also, listening to the members opposite, and the member for Wakefield on our side, I think is really important—because it gives this legislation a very local, down-to-earth overview of how research and development and extension, and also marketing, in this important industry, is important to local economies. It is also, of course, most importantly, a significant contributor to the national economy. So it is good to give it some localised context.

In December 2012 Senator the Hon. Joe Ludwig, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, announced a merger of the two statutory wine corporations—namely, the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and the Wine Australia Corporation. The merger of the two corporations will create a single, whole-of-industry statutory authority: the Australian Grape and Wine Authority. The new authority will offer strategic benefits to the industry—as highlighted by all those who have spoken in support of this legislation—such as improved leadership, service delivery and administrative efficiency. It will also enable a single board to make strategic links between research and development, investment initiatives and marketing. The merger creates a new authority that will inherit the functions of the two corporations.

The merger aligns with the Australian government's 2012 research and development policy statement, which noted that combining research and development, and marketing functions, in one organisation can lead to synergies such as being able to factor customer requirements into research programs, as highlighted by previous speakers.

The merger also fits with the broader government policy agenda of reducing the number of statutory bodies. There will not be any change to the structure or amount of industry levies. The legislation before us provides that all levies collected for a particular purpose, such as research and development—as I mentioned earlier to the member for Riverina, with respect to his concerns—will only be used for that purpose by the new authority. There will also be no change to the existing regulatory, marketing and compliance roles of the Wine Australia Corporation under the new authority.

The government's announcement of the merger followed an industry proposal, submitted in August 2012, by the two industry peak bodies: Winegrape Growers Australia and the Winemakers Federation of Australia. The merger has widespread industry support and addresses discussions that have been raised over the last 20 years—not recently alone, but over 20 years.

Three bills are being presented for introduction that provide the mechanism to create the Australian Grape and Wine Authority and implement the key elements of the reform. The bills are the Grape and Wine Legislation Amendment (Australian Grape and Wine Authority) Bill 2013, the Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Amendment (Australian Grape and Wine Authority) Bill 2013 and the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment (Australian Grape and Wine Authority) Bill 2013. I thank all those who have taken part in the consultation process, and I thank the department for the excellent work that they went about, along with the minister's office, in the consultation that took place and in the presentation of this important legislation. I commend the legislation to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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

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