JAMES HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION AWARDS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:03): My question is directed to the Premier. Can you update the house about the success of South Australian wines at the James Halliday Wine Companion Awards?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:03): I can indeed.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier, excuse me. The member for Heysen is called to order because not only is she interjecting—

An honourable member: She is out of her seat.

The SPEAKER: You have got it. Correct. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I thank the honourable member for her question. While, of course, we do respect the member for Schubert's wine expertise, there is a man who is regarded as, I think, the doyen of wine commentary and classification in this nation, and really around the world—James Halliday. His wine companion awards, that I had the great pleasure of attending yesterday evening, were held in Melbourne, and there is no doubt that South Australia produces some of the finest wines not only in this country but around the world. This was proven again in the wine companions award, which was the first of its type, and South Australian wines were judged amongst Australia's best.

The James Halliday companion awards were designed to highlight the outstanding quality and to celebrate wineries of all sizes. In the words of James Halliday, '...it's a fantastic way to recognise those wines and producers that are truly remarkable. It's been a great year for over-performers.' It was also great to be the only state Premier there at this function, sitting next to Mr Halliday. Essentially, the crème de la crème of the of the whole of the wine industry were there; it was a fantastic evening.

South Australia was rightly recognised. Penfolds received the highest accolade, being awarded Winery of the Year, which follows a long list of previous recognitions. South Australia's wines were also recognised through varietal awards. Shaw and Smith was the standout for sauvignon blanc; James Halliday said this is the best sauvignon blanc in the country, and it is great to see it is up there in the Adelaide Hills.

Seppeltsfield received an award for their fortified wine, the 100-year-old Para liqueur, which is an incredible wine. We were further awarded for the shiraz category of course, for Grange, and their Bin 169 in the cabernet sauvignon category. Additional varietal awards went to Jacob's Creek and Ashton Hills, once again, up there in the Adelaide Hills, so it has been a great—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, it did not quite make it, but nevertheless, it is a great winery. Mr Speaker, the South Australian wine industry contributes significantly to our economy. Our state has around 4,300 wine and grape growers, and our wine experts are worth more than a $1 billion each year; in fact, in 2011-12, our wine industry generated more than $1.7 billion in revenue. We are home to some of the world's oldest vines and, indeed, many of the oldest vines in the world were wiped out all through Europe with the phylloxera outbreak, along with many of the iconic wines of the word.

Approximately one in every two bottles of Australian wine is made here in this state. We export to over 100 countries, and that is not only a great source of exposure but has resulted in the wine industry being the third-largest single commodity earner for our state. Indeed, when you are in China you mention the word 'Penfolds' and everybody knows where Penfolds is, although we have got to capture that it is actually South Australian. They know it is an Australian company, but we need to own it here.

We have every reason to be proud of our history. Paired with our premium food and topnotch tourist destinations, South Australia's wine is part of our state's identity, and part of how we must sell ourselves to the rest of the world in the future. We are doing that through our new premium brand, and through our premium food and wine priority and our international strategies.

I will raise one issue that did emerge: there was a complaint by one of the representatives there. He said that, at some of our functions when we have international guests, some of the catering packages do serve up some pretty ordinary old wine. So, I think we do need to lift standards to make sure that, when international guests come here, they do not get the cheapest package of wine when we are presenting big international events, like some of the big mining events, etc.

The SPEAKER: Alas, the Premier's time has expired. The leader.