Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will include the member for Indi; I wasn't aware of her advocacy on this, but I accept it was there—saying to industry, 'Be more bullish about what you want out of us, because I think you're to be rewarded for what you have done and the mature way in which you have gone about this debate.' I do say to industry: 'Please spend this money wisely. Make sure we and the industry get real value for money from this $50 million contribution.'

It is important that we acknowledge that the wine industry is a significant employer in my electorate. It's a significant, indeed, almost foundational industry in South Australia, and it makes a significant contribution to our national economy. It is one of the great winners and one of the great success stories of Australian agriculture. I am very pleased to stand here commending this bill to the House, thanking Minister O'Dwyer, thanking the Treasurer and thanking everyone who has lent their support to this bill, including the opposition. But principal in that is a note to the industry saying: well done, you have set the standard for other industries to come to government, identify a problem, formulating a solution and, indeed, in some cases, realising that not all government largesse is good and that there was an example here of rorting. There were other examples that, whilst not amounting to rorting, fell outside the spirit of what was intended, and the industry wanted to clean it up. They wanted to clean it up because it was harming every single industry participant. I had farmers who just desperately wanted the WET rebate reformed. It has happened now. I congratulate the industry, senior members of the government and, indeed, everyone in this place. It's a pretty good outcome.

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