Question Time

BAROSSA VALLEY PROTECTION ZONE

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:29): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government, Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Tourism and related portfolios associated with fine wines a question about the Barossa Valley protection zone.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: When Queen Elizabeth visited Canberra last year as part of her royal tour, the wine at the Government House banquet was not a Penfolds Bin 707, not even a Penfolds Bin 389, not even a mere Grange: it was a 1994 Hill of Grace produced from the vines planted in the Eden Valley in the 1860s.

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Well, I've never been that fortunate to have a Hill of Grace, but the minister says it is very nice. I'm sure she drinks it often. International wine writer Dave Brookes describes the latest Hill of Grace as a 'superb wine and a triumph'. But the actual Hill of Grace—the land which produces the single most famous vineyard wine in Australia, revered by fine wine collectors around the world—has been placed outside the government's Barossa Valley protection zone. This means that the Hill of Grace can be cut up for housing or other development, which I think is unlikely in that particular vineyard, but it means that surrounding land can certainly be subject to the same unsympathetic development.

I know the Henschke family, who have been making Hill of Grace shiraz for more than five decades; they were devastated by the news. I am told the reason Eden Valley has been excluded is because the government decided the protection zone boundaries should follow local government zones, not wine zones or regions. If the protection was based on wine regions, which are designed to preserve the character and heritage of our important wine regions—which of course the Henschke family wants—Eden Valley would have been included. My questions are:

1. Why did your government exclude Eden Valley from the protection zone?

2. Is it because of Pacific Hydro's plan to build an 18-kilometre long, 16-turbine wind farm in the Eden Hills-Keyneton area—a development which will be within 3.5 kilometres of Keyneton and eight kilometres east of Eden Valley?

3. If you can buy a 2003 Hill of Grace online today for the bargain price of $1,959, why can't all the money in the world buy a sensible planning decision from this government?

4. Will the minister agree that this decision is a hill of disgrace?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:31): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. Indeed, the Hill of Grace that he talks about, I have had the privilege of being able to taste that wine, and I have to say it is a wonderful wine and I did enjoy that experience. It is a wonderful wine.

The decisions around the protection zones are planning decisions and, of course, the minister for that is the Hon. John Rau, so I am happy to refer those questions to the appropriate minister in another place and bring back a response. Before I sit down, though, I do have to say that it was this government—and this government alone—that had the vision and the foresight to put protection zones in place at all.

This lot opposite me never had the wherewithal, never had the vision. They have no ideas, they have no policies; it is a void. It is a policy initiative void across from me—an absolute, total policy void. It was this government that had the fortitude and the vision to put those protection zones in place. As I said, I am very happy to refer the details of that question to the minister in another place and bring back a response.