Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Thursday 23 January I had the opportunity to visit the Asahi Beverages factory at Tullamarine in my electorate of Calwell. I want to thank the Japanese ambassador, His Excellency Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, or Rei, as he likes to be called, for assisting in the organisation of the visit. I was accompanied by the Consul-General of Japan in Melbourne, Katsushi Horigome, and the Deputy Consul-General, Shunsuke Saito. Accompanying us also on the tour was the Asahi general manager, Kiyoshi Oguri, and the chief strategy officer, Kazutomo Tamesada, who provided us with a tour of this very large scale and significant business operation in my local community. The factory was previously a Schweppes brewing manufacturer and distributor. It was purchased by Asahi Beverages and today employs 260 core staff, with additional employees during peak season. I was told that some of the staff employed there are ex-Ford workers, given the closure of Ford in Broadmeadows.

Asahi has invested $2 billion in Australia and New Zealand operations since 2014. This is a significant investment in Australia and Australian jobs, one which adds to the diversification of manufacturing opportunities in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, where we have over the years suffered the loss of thousands of jobs associated in particular with the closure of the car manufacturing industry.

The Asahi Beverages production line includes but is not limited to Asahi beer, which is made in their Laverton brewery, and of course the stable of the former Schweppes soft drinks. Its distribution line also includes, amongst others, the very famous VOSS water and Jack Daniels.

Asahi's investment in Australia includes their first locally designed and produced beer. In September 2019 Asahi launched their draught beer Two Suns, made using 100 percent Australian malt and wheat and using, as they say, 'precise Japanese brewing techniques'. This is a new beer which is marketed as a Japanese Australian collaboration. Two Suns beer was created by brewers Yosuke Tajika and Geoff Day. To quote Scott Hadley, the chief commercial officer at Asahi Beverages: 'The beer has been launched at a time when Australian drinkers are changing their beer preferences to lighter options. Until now there has been an absence of consumer choice in the "easy drinking" category. We identified that gap and are proud to welcome Two Suns to the Asahi Premium Beverages portfolio.' Of course, I welcome it also. Not being much of a beer drinker, I'm quite enjoy Two Suns. It's milder and has a much friendlier taste. I believe this is a great initiative and adds to strengthening and continuing the bilateral relations between Australia and Japan.

I am of course very pleased to be the deputy chair of the parliamentary friends of Australia and Japan. On Saturday 18 January, I was invited to board the Peace Boat, which had docked at Port Melbourne's Station Pier. The Peace Boat is an initiative established in 1983 and is a Japanese based NGO which holds special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It was founded by Yoshioka Tatsuya and I quote the founder in its purpose as 'a symbol of our message of peace and sustainability'. Inspired by the national memory of the devastating consequences of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945, survivors and the people of Japan, through conversation and interaction, wanted to alert the world and raise awareness about the horrors of weapons of mass destruction; the devastation to communities; and the long-lasting consequences and threat to human life, peace and sustainability.

The Peace Ship has a partnership and membership with ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which was founded in Melbourne in 2006. ICAN has been the leading body in the global movement promoting the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty currently has 80 signatory member states, 35 of whom have ratified the treaty. Australia has yet to ratify the treaty. Dave Sweeney is the founder of ICAN and, in 2017, ICAN received the Nobel Peace Prize for their work. It was a great honour for me to be on board the Peace Ship and have the opportunity to hold the Nobel Peace Prize medal. I want to congratulate Dave Sweeney— (Time expired)