Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I note what Senator Abetz has just said, but he does not actually explain why the coalition is going to oppose this. Rather, he has made the case for why the coalition should in fact be supporting it, since he is agreeing that the current situation curtails the development of microbreweries.

The consultation that I have had with the microbreweries, in particular the Two Metre Tall brewery, was with regard to what level one should set for a microbrewery. I can inform the Senate that the Two Metre Tall brewery did consult widely with other microbreweries to establish what would be a reasonable level—30,000 litres is way too small to get a critical mass to run a business. We are trying to increase the downstreaming on-farm to rural and regional areas of Australia. In the Tasmanian context we have approximately seven microbreweries. They have added to the jobs in rural and regional Tasmania, they have added to the food culture, they bring tourists to the area and they sustain locals.

This a change that needs to happen because of the gross inequity between microbreweries and small wineries. It is why microbreweries are having to go into some cider production, because they then come under the wine regulations and not under microbreweries. So I urge the coalition to think again. This is a balance-of-power parliament. We do have the opportunity to bring real pressure to bear on this issue and I urge the coalition to support the motion.

Question put:

That the motion (Senator Milne's) be agreed to.

The Senate divided. [15:51]

(The Deputy President—Senator Parry)

Question negatived.