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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-30 Daily Xml
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Great Wine Capitals Global Network

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister inform the chamber about recent highlights and achievements of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:06): I thank the honourable member for his question and his ongoing interest in wine. The wine industry has long been a key driver of the South Australian economy, especially in our regions. In 2021-22, the state's wine industry generated $2.4 billion in revenue, a significant portion of the $17.3 billion in total revenue that is generated by our primary industries and agribusinesses.

I think that probably most of us, if not all of us, know that the wine industry's true value extends well beyond the dollar figure. Wine is central to our state's story. It's a source of immense local pride, and a story we are delighted to share with the world at every opportunity. That is why South Australia's membership of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network—a group of 12 internationally renowned wine regions, including Bordeaux, Nappa Valley, the Cape Winelands and Hawke's Bay—is so important.

I have mentioned previously that Hawke's Bay, central to New Zealand's food and wine country, was added to the network earlier this year, with Jo Collins, Chair of Adelaide, South Australia's Great Wine Capitals Steering Committee, travelling to New Zealand to officially welcome Hawke's Bay on behalf of the network.

In September, nine Outbound Knowledge Exchange travel bursaries, worth $6,000 each, were announced, which will see recipients from across the regions who specialise in grapegrowing, winemaking, marketing, research and tourism travel to other great wine capitals of the world to build their knowledge and skills and, importantly, bring that knowledge back home to build capability within our local wine industry.

Honourable members may recall that Melissa Brown from Gemtree Wines, which won the Sustainable Wine Tourism Award for a record third time this year, travelled to Porto in Portugal, itself a great wine capital, to present on the topic of sustainable wine tourism and biodynamics at the inaugural Wine & Travel Week.

In October I had the privilege of presenting the seventh Best of Wine Tourism Awards at a special event at the National Wine Centre. Category winners included Pindarie Wines and Alkina Wine Estate in the Barossa, Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard and Sidewood Estate in the Adelaide Hills, Yangarra Estate and Gemtree Wines in McLaren Vale, and Grapes of Mirth.

Then, late last month, my colleague the Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Zoe Bettison in the other place, was on hand in Lausanne, Switzerland, at the Great Wine Capitals Global Network annual conference gala dinner to accept a Global Best of Wine Tourism Award for Alkina Wine Estate in the Barossa. Congratulations to them.

Along with my colleague the Minister for Tourism, I had the pleasure of welcoming Dan Coward from Alkina Wine Estate to Parliament House just this week to present the Global Best of Wine Tourism Award and offer my personal congratulations on what is an incredible achievement.

We will also be having some brilliant minds from across the network visiting Adelaide over the coming year, with highly respected Hawke's Bay winemaker and Roseworthy College alumna Kate Radburnd from Radburnd Cellars coming to Adelaide to conduct a masterclass at Tasting Australia, hosted by the University of Adelaide.

I had the privilege of visiting another member of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network, Bordeaux, in August, where I signed a memorandum of understanding with its world-renowned wine museum, La Cité du Vin, to ensure the South Australian wine story is told to the world and that visitors to the museum could enjoy our local wine at the end of their tour.

The South Australian government partnership with the La Cité du Vin means South Australian winemakers can work with the museum to hold events and masterclasses at the iconic venue, which attracts almost half a million visitors every year. These are all examples not just of the far-reaching benefits of our Great Wine Capitals Global Network membership but also of how highly South Australian and Australian wine is regarded on the global stage.

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