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

I am very pleased to second the motion by the member for Clark. I support his motion wholeheartedly. South Australia is famous around the world for our wine. In my electorate I have six wine regions that have become an integral part of our economic prosperity and tourism experience.

We all recognise the importance of the wine sector in regional Australia and the significance the industry has for our international reputation for producing outstanding products. In recent years, we have witnessed the development of craft breweries and distilleries. A decade ago, we did not have a single commercial distillery in Mayo. Today, more than a dozen craft distilleries operate and, like their wine cousins, are among some of the best in the world, producing some of the finest craft gin and whisky on offer. As the member for Clark advised, this rapidly expanding sector now comprises more than 300 locally owned distilleries across Australia, supporting more than 5,000 direct jobs and a further 15,000 indirect jobs. This growth has occurred despite the inequitable application of the spirits excise causing unnecessary financial burdens on hardworking Australians. It is simply absurd that our spirits distillers are subjected to the third-highest spirits tax in the world. They are taxed four times more than wine and cider producers and twice as much as brewers in Australia.

Ironically, according to independent modelling the government has an excise rate that is now so high that it collects less revenue than if the rate were lowered. It is absurd. The current situation is an opportunity lost. It is a revenue loss for government, an employment loss and an export opportunity loss. Demand for spirits is growing globally, and markets within our region are expected to grow substantially. We have distillers that are producing international-award-winning gins, whiskies and rums; however, we are exporting at only $4 per capita, compared to $171 per capita in Ireland, $85 per capita in Estonia, $70 per capita in Sweden and $11 per capita in our near neighbour New Zealand. The potential for the Australian distilled spirits sector is enormous. It has the prospect to share a similar success to that of our wine industry, and we know how important the growth of the wine industry has been over the decades for Australia. It has helped enormously in the regions.

On a final note, many craft distillers have told me that, while they employ people in their enterprise, they often themselves have a second job, because the excise tax makes it so difficult to be viable. However, they persist because they are passionate. It's not hard to see in my electorate, when I go and visit many of my distilleries and take home a bottle of gin from here and there—I never drink and drive! But, when I go and see them, they are so passionate about the craft that they create, and it's so incredibly disappointing that we keep taxing the lifeblood out of them. I support the member for Clark in his call for a cut of the spirits excise to the brandy rate, a freeze in the spirits and brandy CPI indexation for three years and an increase in the current excise funding scheme limit for craft distillers from $100,000 to $300,000 for two years.

I bet most people don't realise that, when they go to a winery and at the cellar door they are poured a sample, that sample is excise free—there is no tax paid on that for the producer. However, if you go to a gin distillery door, they need to pay excise on that small taste that you have—bottle after bottle. It is costing them a fortune just to keep the doors open. I really think that we can do much better for our distilleries in this place simply by having a fairer tax regime for them. I want to see more distilleries in my electorate. I particularly love it because it's a business that a lot of young people have moved into. But we are taxing the lifeblood out of this industry, and this industry will not flourish. The government says it's a government for low taxes and believes that, by lowering taxes, we stimulate the economy. Well, this is a prime example.

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