Wine Exports

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:31): Yesterday, Wine Australia released its export report and it was very concerning. The report shows that our established markets are declining and it is of real concern, hugely concerning for bulk wine producers, especially in the Riverland. Exports in the rest of the world, excluding China, are seeing their lowest value in the last decade. They are seeing their lowest volume in the last 20 years, and seeing volumes drop in key markets such as the UK, the US and Canada.

The global wine market is facing considerable headwinds as global consumption has fallen by 13 per cent and the report says the impacts on other markets are unlikely to resolve in the near term. Mainland China now represents 39 per cent of Australia's total export value, but just 15 per cent of volume—more evidence that pushing South Australia back into the Chinese market is not solving the issues, no matter what our state government is telling us.

It will not help oversupply. Currently, the wine tanks in the Riverland are full and the future is uncertain. The government has spent $1.85 million on re-engaging with China, but only $260,000 on helping the Riverland wine industry to develop a blueprint. The Riverland is the engine room of our state's wine industry, but $260,000 is inadequate for an industry worth $2.5 billion to South Australia's economy.

This report tells us what we already know, but the government is just not listening. We need to diversify, whether it is in markets or in structural adjustment. Entry-level products are being ignored in favour of the premium end of the market. More effort and resources are needed on products that draw in new customers, and premium products are important and worth focusing on but, ultimately, the weight of the premium market hinges on success and the growth of entry-level products, products that primarily come from the Riverland. While it is important to concentrate on the premium end of the market, we must put some concentration on efforts and resources for entry-level products that recruit new consumers who will ultimately become the premium wine consumers of tomorrow.

While the state government shells out billions into steelmaking, millions into drought-affected farmers, and millions into dairy, the wine industry in the Riverland is on its knees. It has received $260,000. The concern that I have today is that the Riverland has been left hanging on a hook for far too long. We are entering the fifth vintage where wine grape growers are now receiving less than the cost of production, and it just cannot go on. We have seen a paltry effort by this state government. I am not actually advocating for putting huge amounts of money into wine grape growers' pockets, but I am advocating for structural adjustment. I am advocating for an industry that has a very unclear future.

Sixty per cent of the Riverland's economy is based around the wine industry. Whether it is growing wine grapes, whether it is making wine, whether it is manufacturing, whether it is packaging, whether it is transport or whether it is putting it onto a ship to our global trading partners, the Riverland has missed out on the opportunity. The China tariffs have hurt the sector badly, and what we are now seeing is that we have all levels of government, both federal and state government, hanging their hat: they are claiming victory from the rafters, and yet they are forgetting the very same sector of the industry that has been the engine room for a very long time, for decades.

Today we have a very uncertain future for our wine grape growers. Only late last week, I attended a Riverland wine industry coming together which was about understanding the state of people's mental health and the state of people's financial concerns. It was really there to better understand what the future has in store for those wine grape growers. What they are looking for is decisive action, and it is up to me as a local representative to feed them the information. The Wine Australia report is just part of the information that I will be disseminating and putting in front of all of those wine grape growers to help them make decisions.

While we have governments telling us that everything is rosy and everything is fine, we look at the wine grape growing sector, who are hanging their heads in uncertainty. They are uncertain about their future, they are uncertain about whether they continue, and at the very same time we have a federal government preying on their water allocations. The bulk wine industry, the Riverland wine sector, is on its knees. It is at a crossroads and it is looking for some certainty in the future.