Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

Last Friday I attended the 2019 Saint Martin Adelaide Hills Wine Show, held at Bird in Hand winery, which featured talented local winemakers. I would like to acknowledge the many winemakers who were there on the day; in particular, Michael Downer of Murdoch Hill. Murdoch Hill took out 24 trophies, so I congratulate Michael Downer and Murdoch Hill. Their winery is at Oakbank, and they took out top honours in the following categories: best shiraz, best chardonnay, best producer under 100 tonnes, best single vineyard sale, best white wine of the show, best red wine of the show and, finally, best overall wine of the show, for their 2018 chardonnay, known as Rocket.

There are numerous winemakers in the electorate of Mayo who are finding success on both the national and the international stage. Others include Geoff Hardy of Wines by Geoff Hardy, and Don Totino and Christophe Forel of Haselgrove Wines. They were finalists in the 2019 Australian Export Awards. I caught up with Don and Christophe at the awards dinner last night, and I look forward to visiting their cellar door very soon.

For many, success would not be possible without the assistance of Wine Australia's Export and Regional Wine Support Package. The program is set to come to an end on 30 June 2020, and I urge the government to give some surety and extend the funding. That will ensure that we have another crop of new winemakers able to benefit from the scheme.

South Australia's wine exports have hit $1.79 billion and now generate over $2 billion in revenue for South Australia. In 2019, South Australia contributed almost 750,000 tonnes of wine-grape crush, the equivalent of almost one-third of the national crush. However, those figures could potentially drop without careful management of biosecurity hazards, such as Phylloxera, a tiny insect that destroys grapevines by feeding on their roots. There are no eradication treatments for Phylloxera. South Australia is currently Phylloxera free, but if we look at the Yarra Valley we see that they have lost an estimated $1 billion in crops. This would be devastating for South Australia, and we need a national plan and national leadership on this issue.

I want to finish on another important issue. The Adelaide Hills wine region is at risk from the state government's potential approval of a goldmine neighbouring Petaluma, Artwine and Bird in Hand. I want the South Australian community and Mayo residents to know that I support our wine industry, because you can farm for generations but you can mine just once.

See this speech in context