Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know, at this time in Canberra, it is rather cool outside. One of the best ways to warm up is to have a rum. Talking about rum, I would like to recognise the efforts of the oldest operating rum distillery in Australia. Beenleigh Rum, run by Beenleigh Artisan Distillery in my electorate of Forde, was recently awarded at the international level for the quality of its spirits. The 133-year-old distillery picked up five top gongs at one of the world's most influential spirit competitions—the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in California.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where are the samples?

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my office. They won a silver medal for their 10-year-old rum, their Beenleigh white rum, their Beenleigh port barrel rum—which I can highly recommend—and their Beenleigh vodka, while the Beenleigh double barrel rum was awarded bronze. These awards follow another four won at the same competition in 2016. Beenleigh's artisanal distillers have been commended for their stellar efforts in producing a local product that stands up against the world's best. They have also recently opened a new $5 million visitors centre, which is now attracting even more attention as it invites visitors to explore the venue, learn about artisanal distilling and sample some of this fine Australian rum.