A Senate inquiry has been established to examine elements of the Australian winegrape and wine processing market.
The Riverland remains Australia’s largest wine producing region by size and volume produced, with the industry impacted significantly in recent years due to an oversupply.
The move has been welcomed by local Federal MP, Tony Pasin who said said following years of advocacy falling on the deaf ears of the Albanese Labor Government, he was pleased that the Senate would examine the market factors impacting the sector.
Mr Pasin added further “Labor Ministers may refuse to come to the Riverland to hear directly from the community and growers but I have every faith that the Committee, Chaired by LNP Senator Matt Canavan will take the evidence needed to shine a light on the dire state of the sector,”
The Inquiry will examine and report into the adequacy of the voluntary Code of Conduct for Australian Winegrape Purchases (code), with reference to:
- a. the structure of, and any inequities in, the Australian winegrape and wine processing market;
- b. the nature and impact of current market and trading arrangements on the winegrape and wine processing industries;
- c. the impact of the current market structure on employment conditions for workers in the supply chain;
- d. the availability, transparency and accessibility of winegrape market price information and its effectiveness in forecasting winegrape prices and demand;
- e. the effectiveness of the current administration of the code;
- f. the adequacy of winegrape and wine industry representation at regional, state and national levels;
- g. policy and regulatory options to improve market competition and address any inequities, including the potential benefits and limitations of a mandatory code, and the applicability of existing mandatory codes of conduct in other primary industries; and
- h. any other related matters.
