2025-02-28
|
The Australian Greens have supported the introduction of a mandatory code of conduct for wine grape purchases after hearing evidence from wine producers and grape growers in the South Australian Riverland and the Riverina, as well as the ACCC. A new mandatory code is amongst the recommendations of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport (RRAT) References Committee in its final report released today following an inquiry into the adequacy of the existing voluntary code. While the mandatory code recommendation in the committee’s Final Report was unanimous, the Greens have made additional comments in the report calling for urgent measures to protect struggling grape growers. Many independent growers are facing dire financial circumstances and may not survive in the industry while they wait for the mandatory code to be set up. Lines attributable to Senator Barbara Pocock: “The committee was convinced of the need for a mandatory code of conduct for purchasing agreements in the warm inland growing regions. It found these growers are subject to power imbalances in negotiations, poor terms in supply agreements and little recourse due to the lack of protections under the voluntary code. “I am urging the government to take immediate action on indicative pricing and the expert determination process to prevent more grape growers from going to the wall. These farmers need pricing information much earlier in the season than what is currently the practice in order to make critical decisions that impact their livelihoods. “As I said in my additional comments to the Final Report, indicative prices must be issued by the end of September, not this business of the second Wednesday in December. The Greens support the growers’ call for compulsory notification of indicative prices by all wine grape purchasers by 30 September 2025. “We heard evidence at the inquiry that some wine producers have failed to abide by the voluntary dispute resolution process. The Greens support the growers demand that decisions of any expert determinations are to be legally binding with enforceable penalties from the 2025 season onwards. Growers can’t wait for the mandatory code to be developed and implemented. They need these protections now. “In my additional comments, the Australian Greens recommend that the Government must take urgent action on indicative pricing and the expert determination process, prior to the mandatory code coming into effect. “Some of these wine makers are producing wines on a massive scale, mostly for overseas markets and with an oversupply of grapes now, they are able to drive prices down literally to the bottom of the barrel. This means that growers are being paid less than what it costs them to grow the grapes. “Big wine producers, like Accolade and Treasury have expanded their market power significantly in recent years and are now running vertically integrated global operations. Small family farms supplying wine grapes in the SA Riverlands and the Riverina have virtually zero bargaining power under the current voluntary code. “We heard from the ACCC that a mandatory code of conduct for wine grape purchases could be administered in a similar way to the dairy industry code provided the ACCC is adequately resourced to do this. The RRAT committee was unanimous in recommending a mandatory code for wine grape purchases. This measure, if implemented by the government, will ensure that grape growers have certainty around pricing and can rely on the ACCC to administer enforceable rules.”
|