Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to make a contribution on the Wine Australia Amendment (Label Directory) Bill 2019. Before doing so, I'm grateful to see Senator Ciccone here, who, just before question time and some other business in the Senate today, was reflecting on the quality and the wonderful wines that are produced in his home state of Victoria. It's also great that Senators Duniam and Brockman are in the chamber as well, because they herald from great wine states also—Tasmania, in Senator Duniam's case, and Western Australia, my home state, in the case of Senator Brockman. I think what differentiates Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia is not just that they produce wine but that they produce premium quality wines, which really have been able to showcase the strength of Australian agriculture not just here in Australia but internationally. I'll come to these remarks in a moment.

It's interesting that, in the last few years, lots of attention has been given to the sale of Australian produce to China. Senator Birmingham, the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, is today—this very day—and over the next few days in India supporting Australian trade opportunities. Of course, an important element of those is agriculture. An important subset of those agricultural opportunities is Australia's wine industry.

For the record, I think it's important, Senator Ciccone, that I let the Senate know what some of those great wine houses of Western Australia are. I see Senator Fawcett nodding in furious agreement. I know that he's a South Australian, but I'm sure he's tasted a few Western Australian wines in his time. I applaud the wonderful work that wine cellar doors like Vasse Felix in Western Australia, like Stormflower, like Voyager Estate, like Cullen Wines and like others do not just in providing employment opportunities for those working in the wine industry but in recognising just how important wine production is for the strength of regional economies in Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. This is a point that, I think, is too often overlooked. When we think about the strength of the Margaret River region, the Peel region and other regions in our home state of Western Australia, we can't go past the fact that the strength of those regional economies is in part due to the consistency of the quality of wine production and the fact that these wine houses are so well managed.

In the debate that we had not such a long time ago, prior to the last election and in the term of the last government, there was quite an important debate that we had with regard to wine equalisation tax reform. Much of that was absolutely about the financial viability of wine producers in our country. Importantly, I think the element of the debate that informed and carried the government's position was when wine producers were able to talk about the importance of what the government does to assist wine production and, therefore, the importance that this brings to regional economies. That was a very, very important part of the debate that we had with regard to wine equalisation tax.

These are very interesting times for Australia's trade opportunities. Clearly the coronavirus is presenting some challenges, but at all times in this place we should be thinking about how we can continue to support those agricultural export industries that are doing well for our country, as well as thinking about what we can continue to do to continue to diversify those export opportunities for Australian producers.

To the substance of the matter, in 2017-18 Australia produced 1.7 million tonnes of wine grapes, consumed 492 million litres of wine and exported 866 million litres of wine. Australia's consumption of wine has been described as 19.7 litres per person in Australia, which equates to about 26 average bottles of wine per person per year. However, this is inclusive of the whole population, so the average for those of legal drinking age would be substantially larger.

Australia is the sixth-largest wine producer in the world and the fifth-largest wine exporter, with two-thirds of Australian wine exported, adding $2.89 billion to the Australian economy annually. The Morrison government is clearly committed to continuing to grow the Australian wine industry and all the benefits that accrue to this important part of our agricultural economy. We are delivering over $50 million worth of initiatives to grow Australia's wine exports and wine tourism in key markets, including targeted marketing campaigns in China and the United States of America and, importantly, capability development programs for our producers, wine export and international wine tourism grants, and a brand proposition and go-to-market strategy for Australian craft cider.

Australia's free trade agreements are delivering opportunities for Australian wine producers as well. An example of this is the recent Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or the CPTPP. Prior to the CPTPP, Australian wines exported to Mexico suffered a tariff of 20 per cent, competing against European Union, United States and Chilean wines, which have no tariffs. Since the announcement of the CPTPP, tariffs for high-quality wine have already fallen to a 6.6 per cent tariff and will fall to zero this year. That speaks of opportunity layered upon opportunity layered upon opportunity for wine producers and the economy that supports them.

This will provide a better competitive arrangement for Australian wine exporters in one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies. And the Morrison government is supporting the growth of Australian-grown wines and encouraging wine tourism in the Australian market through our $10 million per year Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grants program, which provides an annual grant of up to $100,000 for eligible wine producers in addition to the $350,000 available under the wine equalisation tax rebate scheme. And because Senator Duniam, from Tasmania, is the Assistant Minister for Regional Tourism and other matters, I want to put in a big plug. Senator Duniam, I wrote to you very recently arguing for some further reforms to cellar door grants that will not only support the Australian wine industry but also, as I've said before, support the regional economies in states like Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia.