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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-06-14 Daily Xml
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Wine Industry

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:14): Like the member for Chaffey, living in a wine region, it is great to see the ebb and flow of the different seasons. At the moment, we are seeing the vines stripped right back, the bare earth emerging and the green grass—in our case, along the Willunga Range—really coming into the fore. There have been a couple of really good seasons in terms of the volume and the quality of the past two vintages, but there are a lot of headwinds in front of the wine sector. It started a couple of years ago, with China introducing tariffs that have made it basically impossible for most Australian wine producers to export into China.

Last weekend, in Brisbane, I met with the new federal Minister for Agriculture, Murray Watt. Murray and I have been mates for about 12 years. We had good discussions about the wine sector. I am hopeful that the new Albanese federal government, as they are indicating through Senator Don Farrell, our federal Minister for Trade, will engage with China to try to get our trade relationships back on track so that we can again be exporting wine into China. It was by far our most important market in terms of value and also volume. Without it, it has left people in a really tough position and we are facing a glut of really good wine. A lot of growers out there are also struggling to sell their fruit, and I know in the Riverland that is a problem as it is right across most wine-producing regions in South Australia.

I wish our ministers and the new federal government well. Obviously, while industries always like extra money, sometimes it is the diplomacy that governments can bring and the discussions they can have to put trade deals back in place that are really important. At the same time as China, we also have the UK government looking at introducing a new tax regime on alcoholic drinks, which really is aimed at imported wines because there is not much wine grown in the UK. The new tax regime leaves alone beer and ciders and whiskeys, which they produce a lot of. It really goes after that middle ground in terms of alcoholic volume of around 11½ per cent to 15 per cent.

I had a chat with David Ridgway the other night. He is doing some work as the Agent General in London. I also met with Accolade Wines and some other people in McLaren Vale who export into the UK and who are very worried about this regime, so we will be doing everything we can to ensure that we can get the message across to the Johnson government to maybe have a look at that and consider the 900 jobs in South Australia that are at risk if these changes to their system go through.

I would like to welcome Erin Leggat to the role as CEO of the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association. I had a very good meeting with Erin just a couple of weeks ago. She came on board recently as the new CEO of the association. It is a really important role for a sector that provides $850 million a year to the McLaren Vale region through food, wine and tourism. Erin is doing a great job. She comes from a background where she is really focused on exports. It is a difficult time for the wine industry everywhere, and I am sure that Erin will do a great job.

The June long weekend was for years and years the Sea and Vines weekend. A couple of years ago, the association decided to wind that in a little bit because unfortunately people were filling up the buses from 9 o'clock in the morning after a couple of hours at a pub, and they were walking like crabs by the time they got off the bus in McLaren Vale at 10am. It has all calmed down a little bit. I was at Lloyd Brothers for a wonderful lunch on Saturday, and I want to thank Sam Temme, the CEO at Lloyd Brothers wine, for putting on a really good show. Gonzalo, the winemaker, is Argentinian and comes from Mendoza.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Malbec, yes. He is a big fan of Argentinian malbec, much like me—a man after my own heart. He is here as their chief winemaker for Lloyd Brothers, but he is also an expert in barbecue. He teamed up with Todd Steele, who went off and coached the association's junior footy team, and then came back and cooked up lunch with Gonzalo. It is great to see so many events sold out right across the McLaren Vale region on the long weekend. Keep on coming to visit us in McLaren Vale. We love to see you all.

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