The Hunter's peak wine and tourism body has endorsed a push for a federal government support package to support the industry recover from the effects of China's recent trade war on Australian wine.
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An Australian Wine and Grape budget submission calls for $86m to be allocated to help growers develop new sustainable revenue streams.
It says the industry lost $1.2billion as a result of four years of crippling Chinese import tariffs on Australian wine, which ended in late March.
It is estimated the tariffs, which ranged between 116 to 218 per cent, cost the Hunter's wine industry about $2million a year.
While the tariffs have been lifted, many wine growers are operating at unsustainable losses as a result of plummeting grape prices.
A tonne of grapes is now selling in some areas for $150 a tonne compared to $700 earlier in the year.
The budget submission breaks the proposed support package into three parts:
- Invest $30 million in a sustainability support package for vineyard owners.
- Invest $36 million over the forward estimates in an export market driven recovery.
- Invest $20 million in a domestic marketing campaign to drive food and wine tourism in Australia, including an additional $10 million to retain and extend the Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant scheme on an ongoing basis.
"We are supportive of the need for a coordinated and collaborative approach to supporting the industry," Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association chief executive Jenny Curran said.
"The challenges that the wider industry is facing also impact the Hunter even though we are not as heavily reliant on exports as some other regions.
In addition to support for exporters, the submission also calls for help to grow domestic wine sales.
"Growing direct to consumer sales (cellar door sales, wine clubs and online) is going to be very important to us as a region," Ms Curran said.
"In difficult economic times producers will be looking at that channel and working out where they can increase their sales. All businesses are having to do that."
The Australian Grape and Wine submission said the proposed support package should not be seen as an industry bailout but rather as a recognition of the importance of the wine industry to regional communities.
"Australia's grape and wine sector is experiencing a downturn that is deeper and harsher than what we have seen previously. This downturn is testing the fabric of our sector and has the potential to decimate the businesses that contribute to the regional communities in which they operate," Australian Wine and Grape chairman John Hart said.
Speaking at Brokenwood Wines, Pokolbin in March, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was confident the Hunter's wine industry had a bright future.
"China wants good high-quality wine, and Australia produces it in places like the Hunter Valley," he said.
"When the impediments to trade with China were put in place, the trade was worth in 2019, $1.1 billion every year.
"Now, we reckon that the resumption of trade will see an even higher amount."
Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
