Question Time

Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:48): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development about the Riverland Wine blueprint and the synopsis of the blueprint.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: On 4 April, Riverland Wine released their blueprint implementation plan 2024—synopsis, which detailed priority activities in 2024 to address the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint Implementation Plan, a plan which the minister and her department endorsed with statements made at the time, such as:

This Blueprint is our roadmap to safeguard the Riverland's economic vitality and cultural identity for generations to come.

Interestingly, on 8 April an updated version of the blueprint implementation plan 2024—synopsis was rereleased, with the only difference being a removal of the partnering body logos on the document, being the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, the Australian government through Wine Australia and the Wine Grape Council. I seek leave to table both versions of this document.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: Therefore, my questions to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development are:

1. Did the minister or anyone from her office or department direct Riverland Wine to remove government logos from the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint Implementation Plan 2024—Synopsis?

2. Does the minister stand by the Riverland Wine blueprint that she signed off on in November last year?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for her question. I am very pleased to have the opportunity raised by this question to provide the clarification that is needed. The honourable member is correct in that last year we released the Riverland Wine blueprint. I have been advised that the organisation Riverland Wine (the industry association) produced a synopsis of requests—requests, not items that have been endorsed in any way by government or by stakeholders.

That synopsis document, called the synopsis, included the use of logos from funding partners for the blueprint. That distinction is important. The logos of the South Australian government were included because the South Australian government is a funding partner for the development and implementation of the blueprint. The funding partners are supporting the development and implementation of the Riverland wine industry blueprint.

The implementation of the blueprint is separate to industry requests developed by the organisation Riverland Wine. To this end, it is important for industry bodies to ensure that information presented in their communication materials, especially those sent to their members and other partners, is both accurate and clear. It is fair to say from the feedback I received over the weekend that growers interpreted the synopsis document as one that had been endorsed by government. As I have explained, that is not the situation and therefore it was appropriate that the synopsis document be rereleased without logos of funding partners.