Riverland Grapegrowers

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:54): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries about the plight of Riverland grapegrowers.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Both the federal and state governments have rushed to prop up the Whyalla Steelworks with a bailout of over $2 billion to stave off a crisis in that region. But there is one large critical region that has been forgotten by this minister and the state and federal governments—the food bowl of the state and our nation: the Riverland. It's now a year since I first raised the financial plight of grapegrowers. In that time, we have seen sales to China resume, which have hit near pre-COVID levels. Blaming a glut, wine companies have been holding growers to ransom by offering them unrealistic prices for their grapes, losing up to $200 per tonne just to reach their break-even point.

It is harvesting time again and it's happening again. For the fourth vintage in a row, growers are facing savage losses, which are causing dire economic hardship for them and the region. In response to one of my questions last year, the minister prattled on about the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint, a 10-year plan full of motherhood statements and little else. There was $200,000 in funding over two years to support industry to implement the blueprint's recommendations. Despite this, desperate growers contacted me today to say nothing has happened—no financial assistance to transition or remove vines, no sign of a mandatory code for the industry.

While the minister may have had a recent meeting with the industry body, growers say she really needs to meet with them at the coalface to see how badly they are hurting. They are asking: if there is money for Whyalla, what about the Riverland? My questions to the minister are:

1. What financial assistance is your government going to provide to growers, and when will you meet them?

2. Exactly what has been implemented from the blueprint recommendations, and how much of that funding has been spent?

3. What has happened to the implementation of a mandatory code?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for his question. I think there are a few points to make. Certainly, the lifting of the tariffs into China has resulted in a very significant change in the wine industry in South Australia. I have always said, however, that it was not a single solution.

Whilst we have seen excellent results in terms of exports to China since the lifting of the tariffs, there are many individual businesses that perhaps are not involved in export or part of that chain, and there are many other issues that are facing the wine industry. The oversupply of red wine grapes is of course a key one of those. However, it is encouraging that the value of South Australian wine exports in the year ending November 2024 was up just over 51 per cent by value to $1.85 billion compared to the previous year.

Growth was noted in China, and it's almost not worth talking about a per cent given that it was virtually nil prior to that, but according to my references it is a 23,637.8 per cent increase. Hong Kong was up 20.5 per cent, the UK was up by a small amount, as was Canada. Malaysia was up by 10.9 per cent, Taiwan up by 6.9 per cent, Belgium up by 76.4 per cent, United Arab Emirates up 53.7 per cent and Sweden up 7.6 per cent.

From a volume perspective, there were increases for the United Kingdom, China, Belgium, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa, UAE and Sweden. From April to November 2024—that's obviously the end of the tariffs—South Australia exported over $647 million in value and over 77 million litres of wine to China. For the month of November 2024 alone, wine to China grew 18.1 per cent to $93.6 million.

The positive momentum has been aided by financial assistance from the state government, as well as from the federal government. The South Australian government's $1.85 million wine exporters China re-engagement support package has executed 11 trade activations and market visits, along with seven targeted marketing campaigns since March 2024.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Point of order: will the minister answer my questions? I don't want to hear about China.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I hope I don't have to share my salary with the Hon. Mr Hunter. Minister, if you could do your best to answer the member's question and seek to conclude your remarks so that we can move on, as soon as you can, please.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Thank you, Mr President. The honourable member asked about financial assistance and the $1.85 million, I would have thought, was significant financial assistance.

The package is helping to reposition South Australia as a market leader in China and support the broader stabilisation of the trade and economic relationship. The Department of State Development has also co-funded 32 South Australian wine producers to attend the Vinexpo Asia wine fair. A Taste of South Australia networking event was held ahead of the Vinexpo fair, which enabled South Australian wine producers to connect and showcase wines to over 450 trade guests from across the region.

The trade minister has also visited Shanghai, China as part of the first official wine delegation to China since the removal of tariffs. In April 2021, the wine export recovery and expansion program was established to offset the significant impact of the China tariffs, and that diversification remains important. I think one of the key things many businesses have appreciated since there were tensions which resulted in trade barriers of various sorts in various sectors is the need to continue to pursue diversification.

In terms of the Riverland, a number of workshops have been held to assist the Riverland. Members may be aware of a change in leadership within the organisation, which is Riverland Wine. I recently met with the new and I believe interim executive officer of Riverland Wine. One of the topics of discussion was the blueprint, and how a number of things that have been called for by growers within the region are contained either directly or indirectly within that blueprint.

In November last year, the federal government and state government announced a new $2.5 million wine recovery support program, developed using recommendations made by the viticulture and wine sector working group. That program will focus on targeting vineyard waste management, building domestic demand and regional grape and wine capability.

The honourable member mentioned assistance to pull vines. He, I am sure, has heard my response on a number of occasions in this place to the various views in regard to vine pulls. The Anderson report, which formed part of the wine sector working group, pointed to the disruptions in the market that can be caused by such things in terms of vine pulls, especially those supported by government, and the history of them certainly engendered a great deal of very passionate opinions through some of the conversations that occurred or the submissions made to the working group.

Certainly, that has been my experience on the various occasions that I have been in the Riverland and the discussion around vine pulls has come up. Therefore, it is not considered an appropriate approach to trying to overcome some of the issues that remain being faced by the Riverland.