Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Western Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Let's distil this motion in simple terms. Our spirits manufacturers are asking for a level playing field—a spirit level, if you like. For some, it is too 'whisky' to make the investment grow under current conditions. For some, it just rubs against the grain. They are treated differently to others in the alcohol production industry, but they don't whine; they keep their 'gin' up. They put their case to government through the gin-dependent member for Clark and his motion. As others have said, this is a very highly regulated and highly taxed industry. It's an industry that does need our support, just as it supported our community over the last 12 months. I will talk about that more in a moment. We need to keep an open mind to make sure that the necessary changes to ensure future growth in this industry happen and to make sure it remains competitively internationally. Because one of the great stories of this industry is that, as we continue to produce here at home—there are many areas where we don't—this is one area where we are reducing our reliance on imported products.

We talk about bringing back manufacturing to Australia. The distilling industry is manufacturing, and we should do what we can to support it. It's exactly what Australians want: quality jobs, value added, export-ready. We saw that when we needed them the distillers were happy to step up to the plate, happy to do something to support their community. They were in a very important part of our front line against the COVID pandemic. I look at the Whipper Snapper Distillery in East Perth in my electorate. It's a fabulous distillery. Alastair Murdoch and his team run an amazing operation that went practically overnight from making fabulous high-end products to turning fabulous Western Australian wine into hand sanitiser. Within a week they were pumping out 1,500 litres of hand sanitiser a week, filling key demand for industry, for the WA health department and others.

Now, thankfully, they are back to their normal production and hoping to expand. It means they use more WA wheat. I went down there last week and said I would be speaking on this motion and I would love something that I could bring in—could they give me one little grain of wheat? As we know, this industry doesn't do things by halves. They suggested I hold this up in parliament, which I know I'm not allowed to do. So I said, 'That's very nice of you.' That is Western Australian wheat used by a Western Australian business to create an export-ready product.

It's not just exporting in terms of exporting our products overseas; it's also a huge tourism industry in my home state of Western Australia. We have heard from every other member who has spoken about the tourism benefits of these industries. Look at businesses like Old Young's in the Swan Valley. I spoke to them at the height of the pandemic and the international border closures last year, when they were thinking, what are we going to do? They are award-winning, a great tourism destination for people who visit the Swan Valley. Most people who visit the Swan Valley just want a nice glass of wine. But not everyone wants a glass of wine, so if you are in the Swan Valley and you want something slightly different, I suggest pop by Old Young's. Of course it would be easier for more people to do that if the Prime Minister's plane tickets that he waves around also applied to trips to the great capital of Perth, which has unfortunately been forgotten by the tourism package that was announced the other week.

I know my community supports these local distillers. I've been bombarded by emails, as many have. You don't get many emails about complex tax policy, but I have received quite a few about this one. So to Joel, Carla and everyone who has been emailing me, I have received your emails and you are about to get an acknowledgement of that with this speech.

The other thing for me in the electorate of Perth is the Northbridge night-time economy. Those people who like to get out and about at night time, isn't it great to see them consuming? You look at the beer list, the wine list— it's Australian products. And more and more we are seeing distilled Australian products in the cocktails and spirits that people consume. The more we can do in this place to support that transformation is a good thing.

Finally I want to acknowledge that the broader alcohol production industry has done it tough over the last year. I acknowledge the local breweries in my electorate who have done it tough—I give a particular shout to Reece Wheadon of Nowhereman Brewing—and the independent retailers who sell all these products. I will finish by congratulating—which I haven't done in this place before—Commune Wine Store, who fought through ridiculous, oppressive regulation and finally got their store at Maylands open at the end of last year. Congratulations.

See this speech in context