ADJOURNMENT
Senator LIDDLE (South Australia—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (17:30): Today the coalition supported Labor's Wine and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026. Its intent is to support Australia's grape growers and wine producers. It is both appropriate and proportionate.
It is no secret that the Australian wine industry has found itself enmeshed in challenges, both domestic and global in nature. Those in the industry have been working through these over a very long period, but it is Labor's toxic new taxes that not only surprise them but will likely sink many of them. Australia never voted for Labor's toxic taxes to fill their budget black hole.
That's why that taxes package exists. The legislation sets the groundwork for changing a voluntary code to a mandatory one, expected to commence in 2027, for fairer commercial arrangements between growers and winemakers. Wine Australia has advised over 75 per cent of all Australian wine production comes from just 30 wineries.
I want to share Labor's record to date. Earlier this year the wine industry put forward a prebudget submission to help growers and winemakers navigate the difficult market conditions that were well known. The government failed to act on those recommendations.
Instead of backing regional wine communities, the Albanese government abolished, in this year's budget, the Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant program, a program that helped wineries attract visitors, grow regional tourism and diversify their income. Cellar doors are crucial, not just to those wineries but to those regional communities. Removing support for cellar doors and the jobs and supply chain opportunities these businesses create sends exactly the wrong message to one of Australia's most important industries.
Labor has shifted more costs onto producers through higher export recovery charges—increasing regulatory costs and asking farmers to pay more, even though they already contribute millions of dollars through statutory levies to fund research, development and biosecurity. This bill does not change levies nor do anything to address broader structural problems. The government's own Productivity Commission found Australia's agricultural levy system has around 248 levies.
Rather than undertaking effective comprehensive system reform, Labor continues to make piecemeal changes around the edges while ignoring the bigger challenges. This legislation amends the Wine Australia Act 2013 relating to the sharing of information with the ACCC. It also amends the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act to allow the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences to share levy payer contact details with authorised third-party contractors to improve agricultural survey participation.
More than 2,000 wineries and 6,000 grape growers across 65 distinct wine grape growing regions make up the Australian wine industry. It employs some 160,000 people. The flow-on impact is significant.
We see things in South Australia like the pulling out of vines in the Riverland district, necessary because it's a last resort showing market and industry failure. Another issue for the industry is an oversupply of grapes and wine, particularly red wine. International trade and too many grapes have contributed to the sector carrying around 262 million litres more wine than can be commercially sustained.
Other challenges include changing domestic and international demand, demographics, taste and consumption trends, competition from other drink types, cost-of-living and cost-of-doing-business pressures, and the impact of weather. These people have to grapple with all of those things. Last month I visited South Australia's Clare Valley, where grapes have been grown in wine production since the 1800s.
I talked with several successful businesses that invest in their communities. They do smart things. But now, under Labor, their job has been made much harder.
They should be rewarded with policies that encourage aspiration and growth, not punished. Can the government do better? You bet.
Look no further than what's on offer from them: the instant asset write-off. They offered $20,000. I asked Taylors Wines what that buys.
They said, 'Not much.' It's not even enough for a forklift. In these places, you need a forklift to safely get equipment around. What about laboratory equipment?
No way. You can't buy that either. What about wine silos?
No. The coalition is offering $50,000 as an instant asset write-off if we are elected. The coalition understands what businesses need, and they don't need what Labor's offering.
(Time expired)