Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Blakes Estate. There is a very, very long list. In fact, in Victoria, would you believe, we have 499 cellar doors and 747 wineries producing 223 million litres, which is 17 per cent of the national production. That makes a $7.6 billion direct economic contribution.

As Senator Dean Smith pointed out in his contribution, another essential point to note is the importance of our wine industry for regional communities—because, of course, it's not just about the growers; it's also about the supply chain. The supply chain includes the vineyards and the wineries but also the marketers, the brokers, the contract bottlers, freight and logistics operations, input suppliers in vineyard and winemaking, pruning and harvesting contractors, retailers and professional advisers—so right the whole way through, whether it is in agricultural production, viticulture, business management or tourism. So this is a really important industry.

I might just add that when I was a reporter with the ABC many years ago I had the great joy of working for a short time on a program called Holiday, where we would travel the country trying out different wines. I have to say that the Victorian wines are the best—but that might be a point that might be contended by some of my colleagues here in the chamber.

Australia is the sixth-largest wine producer in the world and the fifth-largest wine exporter. We now export two-thirds of all wine produced, which is an amazing figure in itself, adding $2.89 billion to the economy per year. As at September 2019, Australian wine exports to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, reached a record value of $1.25 billion, an increase of 18 per cent. That, to a large degree, has been underpinned by the work of our free trade agreements.

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, eliminated the existing tariffs on wine of 14 to 20 per cent. They are completely gone now. They went as of 1 January 2019. Our free trade agreements are playing a very significant role in the success of our wine industry, with the total value of Australian wine exports increasing by seven per cent in value to the $2.89 billion mark. The China market occupies a very large proportion of this export figure. This is incredible growth, which, of course, presents wonderful opportunities for our grapegrowers and our wine producers.

The continuing success of Australian wine exports depends on the maintenance of our internationally recognised reputation for quality and integrity, and that is supported by Wine Australia's regulatory activities. The Australian wine industry, represented by Australian Grape and Wine Incorporated, came to the government, asking for stronger regulatory controls to deter the export of copycat wine from Australia. Copycat wine and other grape product exports are products that are exported from Australia with labels which seek to mimic elements of Australian brands for commercial gain and unfairly benefit from the reputation of those brands. A label directory was proposed by the industry as a useful way to assist brand owners to protect their intellectual property rights and, of course, by extension, the reputation of Australian wine.

The really important element of the concerns raised by the industry is that our government listened. We listened to the industry, to the businesses right across this nation, and we are now taking action to better protect this important industry, to ensure that we back these businesses in—because it's tough yakka. If you consider what the wine growers in the bushfire impacted regions of South Australia, Victoria and NSW have had to deal with, their businesses have been hit for six. It is really tough, and it can be particularly tough and unpredictable in agriculture. So, whenever agricultural businesses reach out for support, we are there, the government is there, to listen and to ensure that our reputation as a pre-eminent exporter of agricultural produce is second to none.

This bill will enable a label directory to be established as part of Wine Australia's export controls. It's a very important deterrent to exporters of wine and other great products who seek to unfairly benefit from the reputation of Australian brands. The label directory will provide brand owners with a searchable database of images of labels that can be used to find labels that potentially infringe their intellectual property rights and enable them to undertake civil action against copycat exporters through the Australian legal system.

The bill will also enable Wine Australia to use the label directory in administering licences to export under the Wine Australia Regulations 2018. For instance, Wine Australia can use the images of the labels submitted to it to confirm that wine exporters are complying with their obligations under the Label Integrity Program, which is set out in the act. Of course, this could also be used as evidence of copycat labelling, and that will assist Wine Australia's ongoing assessment as to whether a wine exporter can be considered a fit and proper person who may hold a licence to export wine from Australia.

The other important aspect of the bill is that the amendments to the Wine Australia Act 2013 made by the bill will enable Wine Australia to impose additional requirements on wine exporters as a condition of approval to export grape products from Australia. The bill allows for regulations to be made that would result in a whole lot of additional protections. This is really important because our reputation as a clean and green producer of first-class agricultural produce is incredibly precious to us as a nation. This is a very important measure in protecting the integrity of a vitally important industry. The label directory will provide additional protection, but, as I say, it also demonstrates that our government is continuing to listen to small business and that is very, very important.

We want to make sure that when our businesses go out on the world stage they have every competitive advantage so that they can showcase their produce at its very, very best. I might say, as a former intellectual property lawyer myself, I recognise how important the protection of one's intellectual property is, whether it's designs, whether it's fashion, whether it's software or, in this case, whether it's the integrity of our wine that we produce in Australia. It is incredibly important to do everything we can to protect the integrity of our produce, including our agricultural produce. I commend this bill to the Senate.