Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the recent T-QUAL grants for quality tourism projects in Australia, and I want to talk specifically about the benefits of one Tasmanian grant in particular which has helped cement Tasmania's reputation as the whisky centre of Australia. The grant has created one of only two paddock-to-bottle single malt whisky distilleries in the world. I had the pleasure last week of attending the opening of the Redlands Estate Distillery at Plenty in the beautiful Derwent Valley in Tasmania by the Minister Assisting on Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, and my parliamentary colleague the federal member for Lyons, Dick Adams.

The distillery received a T-QUAL grant of $110,000, which the owners of Redlands, Peter and Elizabeth Hope, matched equally to develop a complete whisky tourism experience where visitors can follow the production of malt whisky from paddock to bottle. The Redlands distillery at the Hopes' historic property is the ninth distillery to open in Tasmania. As the minister said when he opened the distillery, tourists come to Tasmania for their wine, and now they come for our whisky as well.

The story of Tasmania's journey as a major whisky producer is one I am proud and pleased to tell. It all began when Bill Lark, a surveyor, was trout fishing in Tasmania's Central Highlands with his father-in-law more than 20 years ago and enjoying a wee dram of Scotch whisky. They took in their surroundings, fantastic fields of barley and beautiful clean, pure water, and they knew there were peat bogs in the Central Highlands. So the obvious question that they asked each other was: why wasn't someone making whisky in Tasmania?

Bill, who is now affectionately regarded as the grandfather of the modern Australian whisky industry and is Chair of the Australian Distillers Association, only wanted to make a small batch of whisky, but Australian law at the time did not allow him to do that. Under the Distillation Act 1901, licences had to be for large quantities. This was obviously designed to crack down on backyard moonshiners. Bill mentioned the anomaly to my friend and former federal Labor member for Denison Duncan Kerr, who confided in his colleague Barry Jones, who changed the act. And what an important decision by a Labor government that was to become.

The first modern licensed distillery in Tasmania was at Bill Lark's house. But now, more than 20 years later, his success in getting Labor to overturn the age-old law has opened up a fantastic new industry. In a move akin to selling ice to the Eskimos, a couple of years ago Bill Lark was asked to go to Scotland and help set up a new distillery south of St Andrews. Bill Lark was at the opening of the Redlands distillery and said that one of the biggest whisky magazines in the world had recently described Tasmania as 'the whisky island of Australia'. So the importance of the T-QUAL grant to the whisky industry in Tasmania is certainly significant. It is significant because the whisky industry and the tourism industry in Tasmania are creating jobs. The Redlands distillery is contributing to this, with the Hopes intending to produce up to 20,000 bottles of whisky a year. The Redlands Estate Distillery hired approximately 30 contractors, both direct and indirect employees, to complete the project. Longer term, three full-time positions have been created as well as several casual positions. It is expected that, when the whisky operations are fully functional, five more full-time positions will be created.

The Redlands Estate Distillery is stage 1 of a major prestige tourism development which will include establishing the traditional floor malting room and the brewing and distilling room and upgrading the historic stone stables to house the distillery showroom and cellar door. The T-QUAL funding was used to carry out sections of stage 1, including renovating the historic granary buildings and concrete floors and establishing a traditional malting floor as part of the whisky distilling process. Frankly, the T-QUAL grant helped save the 1850s distillery building from ruin.

The building is of heritage significance, with a collection of spirit circles drawn on the outside walls. These circles were designed to keep away bad spirits, which I am sure they did when we visited the distillery last week. The Redlands distillery is on the historic Redlands Estate farm north of Hobart. In 1819, Redlands was granted to George Frederick Read, rumoured to be the outcast son of King George IV of England. From the late 1860s until the 1970s, Redlands was one of Australia's largest hop farms.

As well as the distillery, the Hope family has plans for Redlands Estate to undergo a modern transformation into a family residence, working farm and tourism development. This will include accommodation and a restaurant and will link the property to Salmon Ponds next door on one side and to the proposed Derwent Valley tourist railway turntable on the other. The distillery is being housed in the heritage listed, convict built Georgian oast-house and granary. The visitor centre includes a whisky tasting room and cellar door sales and will serve other Derwent Valley produce, including wines and bread baked on site in one of Tasmania's oldest bakehouses.

I learnt, through the whisky-making demonstration by Dean Jackson, that the whisky-making process takes at least two years. I was able to watch the only cooper in Tasmania, Adam Bone, use his skills to light the barrel. He told me the charcoal inside is a natural filter for the whisky. Redlands is one of only two whisky distilleries in the world where all the barley is grown on site. What sets this distillery apart from others is that Redlands has the malting process. Tourists can see that process and they can taste the whisky being made.

Tasmania's whisky industry has certainly grown since 1992, when Bill Lark produced just one barrel. There are now nine distilleries, producing more than 200,000 litres of whisky a year. As Bill Lark said at the opening of the Redlands distillery, Tasmania is being recognised now as a serious player in the whisky market. In fact, the Nant Distillery in Tasmania is planning to build the world's largest chain of whisky bars.

Tasmania is also winning some of the top awards for whisky around the world. A 2007 single cask produced by Sullivan's Cove distillery won the gold medal for 'best other' whisky—the best outside Scotland—at the World Whiskies Awards. Tasmanian whisky can sell for just under $100 or for more than $1,200 and is exported to Singapore and Canada. Peter Hope told me that he had been visited by a Chinese delegation who had shown interest in his distillery. That is because Tasmania is using a traditional brewing system and because our climate is particularly favourable for producing whisky. As I said, the whisky boom is also creating jobs. Redlands Estate will have employed about 40 people by the time that first bottle is opened. I hope that, when it is, I get the chance to have a wee dram.

I am pleased to talk about the success of the Tasmanian whisky industry and what can be achieved through the T-QUAL competitive grants program. Of the 77 successful T-QUAL projects in 2012, 11 projects were offered across Tasmania. They include funding to provide world-class bird hides on Bruny Island, for a new convict experience for the award-winning Maria Island walk and for a new apple orchard experience at Spreyton in the north-west.

Tourism is particularly important to the Tasmanian and Australian economies, and Tasmania is certainly on a winner with its tourism attractions, taking out five top national awards at this year's Australian Tourism Awards—more than any other state. This year my home town, Hobart, was listed in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2013the only Australian city to score a mention. Tourism contributes $33 billion per year to GDP and employs one in every 12 working Australians. As the T-QUAL grant to the Redlands distillery demonstrates, tourism not only creates jobs but also generates wealth and puts us on the international stage. That international stage is one Tasmania is now on as a result of whisky-making and all the other produce of Tasmania—something I am very proud of.