Aus - Wine industry to receive $50 million boost

[poledriver]

Wine industry to receive $50 million boost

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Barnaby Joyce during a support package announcement at the Penfolds Magill Estate in Adelaide, Monday, August 28, 2017. (AAP Image/David Mariuz)

The federal government will inject $50 million into the Australian wine industry to boost exports and attract more international visitors to wine producing regions.

The export and regional wine support package will provide money for marketing campaigns in the US and China in a bid to increase wine exports to $3.5 billion over the next three years, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says.

"The target now is to go from $2.2 billion worth of wine to $3.5 billion by 2020," he said.

"At home the package will help to attract up to 40,000 more international tourists to visit our word renowned wine regions."

(Related video: Price of wine is at an all-time low.)

The scheme will look to capitalise on the changing destinations of Australian wine, the assistant Agriculture Minister Anne Ruston said.

"Our wine industry was already in a strong position," Senator Ruston said.

"With tariff reductions from the China Australia free trade agreement leading to China overtaking the US as the most valuable destination."

Australia's wine exports for 2017-18 are expected to top $2.5 billion on the back of stronger demand from China.

The package will be managed by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority.

https://finance.nine.com.au/2017/08/28/12/56/wine-industry-to-receive-50-million-dollar-boost

 

[S.J.B.]

How very hypocritical of them. Last I checked, binge drinking was a huge public health issue, no? But I guess the tabloids don't harp on it enough to have people up in arms like they are over "ice" or what-have-you. 8)

 

[poledriver]

Yeah exactly SJP, there are massive amounts of 'wine addicts' here (and I am sure in other places) yet the government is injecting $50,000 into an industry that is already well established and successful in exporting.

(Related video: Price of wine is at an all-time low.)

All time low. So people (including addicts) can get large amounts of it at relatively low cost. How is this good? Beer and mixed spirits (like flavoured vodka cans and small bottles etc) have had major tax increases to make them not so cheap, but wine seems to not fall in the same category? Why not? Afaik wine is pretty high volume percentage of alcohol. It's pretty potent.

I know a few people who are addicted to wine and they get so fucked up, they drink a few bottles and turn into totally different people. They need their 2 or more bottles a day. They drink drive, they say and do other stupid shit. It can be a very big problem for some people.

And our government harps on about how dangerous cannabis is and they make medicinal cannabis nearly impossible to get, even for the terminally ill, and they wont even use THC in most of the so called medicinal cannabis. Cannabis so dangerous? Wine OK? Pretty two faced wrong. Sure some people abuse cannabis and have issues with it too just like any other drug legal or illegal.

Our government sux really badly atm.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Sometimes I can't decide which country is shittier with drug policy, the U.S. or Australia

 

[Jabberwocky]

Is there much of a difference?

And is that a mole I see?

 

[S.J.B.]

To be fair, despite the rhetoric, Australia's approach to drug policy and criminal justice is a lot more in line with the rest of the developed world than with the draconian policies in the U.S.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Good point, and their criminal justice policies in general. The rhetoric is confusing for a foreigner like myself.