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

My question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Abetz, representing the Minister for Agriculture. Recently I met with a group of some 40 wine grape growers from the Riverland in South Australia, many of whom were concerned about their ongoing viability given the 25 to 35 per cent drop in wine grape prices compared with last year's prices—prices that are generally well below the cost of production. Does the government acknowledge that a number of wine grape growers in the Riverland, as well as in the Sunraysia and Riverina regions, cannot survive in the longer term with these unsustainable prices? Further, does the government concede that their viability is made even more difficult by New Zealand wineries receiving some $25 million a year in wine equalisation tax rebates from Australian taxpayers—moneys that could instead be used in part to promote Australian wines overseas?