Grape growers have made an emotional plea for the establishment of a mandatory industry code to ensure the 45-billion-dollar industry stays viable. Growers have told a senate committee this season is shaping up as another nightmare, and they’re accusing wine companies of collusion and anti-competitive behaviour. Increasing numbers of farmers are walking away from the industry after being offered prices hundreds of dollars per tonne below the cost of production.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Wine grape growers are preparing for vintage 2025, the fourth in a row where prices being
00:08offered by wineries are lower than the cost of production by hundreds of dollars per tonne.
00:14If we don't move to a mandatory code, then we can continue to lose our farmers to suicide,
00:19depression and bankruptcy.
00:22Make it compulsory and have it up and running quick smart because a lot of growers aren't
00:26going to survive 2020 to 2026 harvest.
00:30Farmers contemplating leaving the industry as they struggle to put food on the table.
00:35Telling a Senate inquiry, wineries have been engaging in anti-competitive and manipulative
00:41practices shortchanging growers.
00:43And the wineries have colluded without a doubt knowing we can get hopefully one more cheap
00:50vintage because we know the writing is on the wall because of the Senate inquiry.
00:55Two of the larger wine companies told the inquiry a mandatory code won't resolve problems
01:01created by the glut of wine grapes.
01:03There is a structural oversupply and I'm not convinced that the mandatory code will change
01:09that but we are open minded in terms of whatever is for the benefit of the industry.
01:14We do not support proposals to make the code mandatory.
01:17The ACCC argues that prescribing a wine grape purchase code would be significantly more
01:23complex and resource dependent.
01:25The compelling arguments presented here in Rennmark could be enough to convince the Senate
01:29committee to recommend the introduction of a mandatory code of conduct.
01:33But history shows it's a much bigger challenge to turn a recommendation into reality.
01:39Two previous Senate inquiries in 2005 and 2016 recommended a mandatory code but failed
01:46to get the political support needed.
01:48So we will make our report as a Senate committee and we will hope for government action to
01:52address these very significant concerns from growers who are in a real crisis.
01:58We need to be very careful that the unintended consequences of making changes in the marketplace
02:03don't actually end up creating detrimental impacts on our growers.
02:06With an election due early next year, growers will have to convince the new federal government
02:11to save their industry.