Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Temporary Chair, I am suitably chastised by you. But I just could not resist that. This is not an onerous amendment. This amendment will simply require that, in the corporate plan they are obliged to provide, Wine Australia make reference to the issue of the monitoring and preventing of the counterfeiting of Australian wines within and outside Australia. The amendment is not mandating what action they have to take but it does mandate that they have to pay attention to it to the extent that they need to say what they are or are not doing in relation to the counterfeiting of wine.

This is a major issue. We know that the risk of tainted wine, for instance, which is at much higher risk with counterfeit wine, can have a devastating effect on a wine industry. The Austrian wine industry was affected a number of years ago, and it took them a number of years to recover from that. It is the integrity of the labels. It is essential that our wines be protected from counterfeiting. The experiences of Mr Skorpos in relation to his Flinders Run estates label are quite salutary. I think it is fair to say that Wine Australia has certainly improved lines of communication and they have been open with Mr Skorpos in relation to this. But the key issue is: what is wrong with requiring Wine Australia to say, 'This is what we're doing as part of our corporate plan in relation to counterfeiting'?