Riverland Wine Growers and Dairy Industry Regulation

Senator Barbara Pocock and Mick Keogh called for a mandatory code and fairer pricing for Riverland wine growers. The dairy industry's mandatory code has been a success and could be a model for the wine industry. However, providing early pricing information may be tough for smaller producers. Mick Keogh suggested making previous year's prices more transparent to help growers compare winemakers. He also stressed the need for the ACCC to have enough resources to enforce any new code, citing the dairy code's success. The ACCC's experience shows that proper compliance mechanisms can greatly benefit farmers, and similar approaches could work for the wine industry. Keogh noted the ACCC currently lacks resources to act in the wine grape sector and would need more to enforce a mandatory code.