The Concerned Elders – led by chair Louisa Rose – respond to Wine Australia’s Sector Briefing Paper, ‘Investing in Innovation: Meeting the Challenges of Tomorrow, Today.’
Late last week Wine Australia published on its website, and sent to a few industry bodies, a Briefing Paper on research and investment. This unanticipated paper is a unilateral declaration, apparently designed to prepare the way for further funding reduction by Wine Australia to the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI).
Does it signal the termination of the special funding arrangement between Wine Australia and the AWRI?
It is disgraceful that such a unilateral declaration of demonstrably diminished support for the AWRI by Wine Australia should be circulated widely among state and regional wine industry bodies without the knowledge or input of the AWRI.
The declaration represents a deliberate undermining of the AWRI’s business, based on Wine Australia’s assumptive and erroneous analysis of AWRI’s current financial position.
Wine Australia’s Board and management seem to have constructed their view of the AWRI’s financial position without the input of the AWRI’s Board or Management.
Wine Australia’s action is a serious breach of governance and calls into question the role of the Wine Australia Board in assessing the real risks to the industry in the deliberate defunding of the AWRI.
We leave it to the Board and Management of the AWRI to correct the record of Wine Australia’s presumptuous interpretation of the AWRI’s finances.
This apparent self-advertised future defunding comes after the significant existing reduction of funding of the current four-year agreement.
Impact is a buzz word used frequently by Wine Australia in relation to a suite of projects without really explaining what it means.
There is no escaping the impact Wine Australia is having on the viability of the AWRI and on the Australian wine industry’s standing in the global wine world and on its quality competitiveness.
If nothing is done to change it, that impact will be felt by future generations of Australian winemakers as they lament the loss of our one truly international competitive advantage in the quest for improved grape and wine quality.
In its declaration, Wine Australia puts forward an alternative agenda for R&D investment citing “traditional research and development”… “requiring a shift in how we invest in research and innovation.”
There is no argument that the R&D levy pool is shrinking, and the industry is evolving, but nebulous and unfulfilled statements about “collaborative and diversified investment models”, “leveraging co-investment, expanding research partnerships” where there is little evidence of these things happening are inflammatory at best.
Wine Australia should be transparent with the industry about its greatly expanded expenditure on consultants and about its in-house expansion of R&D management and extension and adoption capability duplicating what already existed at the AWRI.
The industry is facing generational problems and needs accord and synthesis, not discord and destruction.
It’s hard to think of a more destructive and industry divisive action than Wine Australia defunding the AWRI.
The future will hold the Board and Management of Wine Australia to account for their actions.
The Next 5-year Wine Australia Strategic Plan needs to ensure the viability of the AWRI.
The Concerned Elders represent current and former leaders of the wine industry. Qualifications in the group include owners of small, medium and large wineries and wine business, grapegrowing, winemaking, R&D, industry analysis and media. Many have significant experience serving on, in some cases chairing, industry boards such as the Australian Wine Research Institute, Australian Grape & Wine Association and its predecessors, and Wine Australia and its predecessors.
We are not a group that agree on all issues facing the wine industry. We were formed around, and continue with, a very tight focus that is two-fold:
- The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) – to ensure an adequate level of funding be provided for the AWRI to maintain its core capacities, its current and future contribution to essential industry innovation and its international reputation as a world leading innovative wine industry for now and future generations of the wine industry.
- Levies – to encourage and to assist the Australian wine community to adopt a value based statutory levy to support the research, extension, and education programs necessary for an innovative future.
Members of the Concerned Elders include: Louisa Rose (chair), Brian Croser AO, Sandy Clark AO, Brian Walsh, Geoffrey Weaver, Peter Dawson, Tim James, Kym Anderson AC, Michael Hill Smith AM MW, Rachel Triggs, Peter Hayes AM, Sam Connew, Terry Lee OAM, Oliver Crawford, Nigel Sneyd MW, Andrew Caillard MW, Ed Peter, Richard Hamilton, Andrew Weeks, Iain Riggs AM, Mary Hamilton, Dan Eggleton, Rob Bramley, David Wollan, Virginia Willcock, Peter Leske and Garry Wall.
We are not a closed group, and welcome anyone like-minded to join.
– Louisa Rose, The Concerned Elders