Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to add my remarks on this bill, the Wine Australia Amendment (Label Directory) Bill 2019, and to those other senators who have made their contributions I think it's fair to say we probably beg to differ here about which state is the best state in producing wines, but it's fair to say Australia produces the best wines in the world and I think we can all have a unity ticket on that point.

As a senator for the great state of Victoria and as someone with Italian heritage, I'm sure it won't come as any surprise that I'm very passionate about viticulture here in our country. My home state is the very proud producer of just over 17 per cent of Australia's total output of wines. No state has more individual wine regions, wineries and diversity of wine varieties than Victoria. Without trying to claim the best wines in the country—although I would hate not to make the point that I do believe that Victoria does offer the best wines in Australia, but my colleagues on my side and those opposite will probably beg to differ—I say it is just really good to see the number of varieties that Australia, since Federation, has been able to produce. We have some of the best wines in the world, and the viticulture industry is certainly one that we should be very proud of. It employs quite a number of people across our nation. Whether it be pinot noir from the Mornington Peninsula or chardonnay from the Yarra Valley—