Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Measures No. 4) Bill 2017 is one bill that does have bipartisan support on both sides of the House, and that is very refreshing because it is a reform that needs to happen. My interest in this started with two people—a guy by the name of John Ward, a wine grape grower from Swan Hill, who came and saw me, and another guy by the name of Frank Pedulla, with another delegation of wine growers in my patch. People think of the Barossa, they think of Coonawarra and they think of the Hunter Valley, but they might not realise the quality of grapes that are grown in the electorate of Mallee. It is very refreshing when people come and sample some of the grapes grown in our patch and realise that we actually do produce good quality wine.

The wine equalisation tax rebate has been upsetting things for quite a while. I think the intention of the reform when it was brought in under the Howard government was probably quite sound, but, unfortunately, it's been open to some rorting, and it needs a clean-up. Essentially, the intention is—and we have kept the intention pure in this bill to try and clean it up—that we want people who are growing grapes and producing their own wine and having cellar-door sales to receive some additional benefit because of the additional jobs that come from the tourism around food culture. It is one of the great beauties of our country. Not only can you see spectacular scenery; but you can taste the produce that is produced in that place, which generates a sense of pride in our country. We do produce great wine, and it encourages businesses that start off as just a cellar door to then go to the next step. Unfortunately, the wine equalisation tax, as it stands before this proposed reform, has allowed the wine rebate to be claimed on bulk and unbranded wine, which is largely away from the intent of the original legislation, and this is putting some pressure on the viability of the take-home price for wine grape growers across our region.

I know a little bit about agriculture and trade, given my background. I remember—and I used this example when we were having these discussions around the party room—that, in the early eighties, when there was a drought, you couldn't get 20c for a sheep. You couldn't get very much money. I remember as a 16-year-old, at times, having to line up and shoot sheep because they weren't worth anything. Now, the great thing that's happened in the agricultural industry is that we have developed so many markets that we now export sheepmeat to 112 countries right across the world. Even through the dry times you can get over $100 per head per sheep, so we are getting better utilisation out of our product. What we want to do with the wine industry is replicate what we've done with the livestock industry, and that is to open up the market.

Ultimately the product we are producing in Australia is First World. Those of us on both sides of the House have probably consumed too much of it—Mr Deputy Speaker Mitchell, you have definitely consumed too much of it! I'm not reflecting on the Deputy Speaker, although that could be a good reflection! Certainly we want to sell our wine to the world. If you open up the marketplace, you lift the base rate that domestic sales work from. If you think it through, there has been a wine glut for a number of years and we are shifting the bulk of that wine onto the export market. That takes it out of the market, which therefore lifts the profitability of growers, who will sell through their own cellar doors. That is what this reform is trying to target.

As well as moving to lower the rebate cap from $500,000 to $350,000—which, incidentally, saves the federal government $300 million over a four-year period—we have re-invested $50 million for the Australian Grape and Wine Authority to promote Australian wine. I would like to see more of that savings reinvested into growing the industry, but we will take one step at a time. Let's see what they can do with that $50 million. When we have our trade fairs overseas and when we are helping a grower to move into the export market, it is important that we are assisting them to promote the product that we produce.

The public consultation around this has been very thorough. There is always a bit of a dispute between grape growers and winemakers, but this is one area where they've come together. This is an example where both sides are coming together for the betterment of the industry. As well as that, both sides of the parliament are coming together to see the reform go through. We are cleaning up the rorting. We are ensuring that cellar door sales can grow so that people—even those in the electorate of Bendigo—can go and see some good wineries. I have been to a few of those: I believe Connor Park is one, and Balgownie Estate, if I remember correctly. Their wine is not quite as good as those in the electorate of Mallee, but it's not too bad a drop.

We can argue about this one, but what we want to see is viable places where people can come and spend tourism dollars and enjoy wonderful food. We want to see an export industry that continues to grow so that the products we produce are marketed all across the world. I commend the grape and wine industry for coming together and I commend both sides of the parliament for coming together. May the viability and profitability of all people involved in the industry be better as a result.

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