House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Container Deposit Scheme Container Deposit Scheme Mr WHETSTONE House of Assembly Chaffey Container Deposit Scheme Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (14:46): A supplementary to the Minister for Environment. What impact on the industry will there be by this government's decision on this economic burden? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: It's not a supplementary. I will put that down as a question. The Hon. S.E. CLOSE House of Assembly Port Adelaide Deputy Premier Minister for Climate, Environment and Water Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy) (14:47): There was a study done by the government; I think it might even have been done by the previous government, because this all started in 2019 under a previous minister. The assessment was initiated then. What the assessment looks at is not only the 10¢—which of course you pay but you get back—but also how much that additional handling fee will be to make the system work. That is estimated at between 3¢ and 6¢ per bottle. The wine industry has concerns about that, and I have been listening to those concerns all the way along. What we are doing, in order to make sure we take the least burdensome approach possible, is taking the full two years to talk to them. I have written to them this morning to assure them that they will be absolute partners in designing the system. What is important to understand is that South Australia could hold out all it likes; it sells wine to the other states. I said as soon as I became the minister, when the wine industry raised this with me, that I would not propose that South Australia go it alone to add a deposit to wine bottles, because our wine industry is so important to us—but nor did it make any sense for us to be the only state that held out against it when all the other states were doing it. What we need, as much as possible, is to offer industry the certainty that comes with national consistency, so that is the approach we are taking. As I say, 50 per cent of the wine drunk in Queensland is South Australian, and that is already subject to the costs associated with engaging in this scheme. Western Australia announced it during the election campaign and now there is New South Wales. The Northern Territory has said so too. There is no point in avoiding the fact that this is something that is happening in Australia. What we have done is put a sufficiently long time period on it so that we are able to work very closely with the industry and, as I say, have the lightest possible administrative burden. We also recognise that while there are many big companies that invest in South Australia and produce wonderful wine, we also have a lot of really small producers, and I want to make sure that their interests, in particular, are paid attention to and that they are not disproportionately affected by the way this is enacted.