Aussie petition accused of protectionism

I don't think this is any different to 'Buy Australian' campains for other products. The government want's us to buy Australian! Why? Because the profit stays here! People here are employed! Why wouldn't you want to buy an Aussie car? Probably the same people who don't eat lamb on Australia Day. Some of the other commentors need to find out some facts before they post. Good McLaren Vale Grenache can be priced anywhere from $1000 - $4000+ PER TONNE. Try and sell that for $6! Yes, cost in some case may be as low as $6 per bottle, but at least double that by adding a PROFIT MARGIN (so you stay in business) & WET & GST in Aust. Or the cost of shipping, the agent's margin and the retailers margin for export. I support the idea.

A support Australian campaign is a great idea and various other, better thought out versions are gaining momentum and credibility. Frankly, I choose to ignore this one as it uses negative imagery and fear mongering tactics to gain attention. Poor form.

Aussie wineries should get real and stop conning consumers with endless BS. The cost of producing a bottle of wine is definitely not mroe than 6 dollars, why cant you people compete with others? Get your act together, be less greedy, and learn to adopt good marketing principles. Making dumb appeals to aussies to drink aussie wine is profoundly stupid ! Will Holden put an appeal next to buy its car paying a few grand more, with less features - cause its ozzie ! WAKE UP people !

Perhaps Mr Pannell would like to explain why I can buy the Grenache he made in Spain more easily and for less then the Grenache he made in McLaren Vale at my local Adelaide bottle shops.
Is it true the campaign is starting Jan 1 so Stephen can enjoy imported Champagne over Christmas and New Year?

The Australian wine industry is already protected by a Government imposed wine equalisation tax(WET) 29%!! The effect of this on top of duty and GST adds in excess of 50% to the cost of a case of wine imported into Australia. I am amazed that they can impose these taxes and then expect free access to overseas markets

A good friend of mine lives in Brisbane. She drinks NZ wine most of the time as it's cheaper than ozzie stuff. In fact oz wine is cheaper here in uk than in Oz - what they need is lower taxes not xenophobic campaigns that harm their reputation

One of the joys of being an Australian in France is to experience the profound cultural differences involved: France, which for over two thousand years has felt under attack from outside, celebrates its traditions to protect itself against the less sophisticated; and Australia, which admirably just "gets on with it" without too many hangups. So it is rather sad to see Aussies adopting the bottom end of the French approach, with simple knee-jerk protectionism. We only reveal our insecurity about our products when we do that. What does a story like this do to the already dodgy reputation of Australian wine overseas?

I think this post here reflects my opinion on this well. http://winehero.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/pride-or-prejudice/

I have just returned from the Hong Kong Interantional Wine Show with over 600 Exhibitors from around the world...including 70 Australian Wineries. Our booths were very busy and the buyers were all imporessed with the quality, taste and variety...Australian wines are equal to any in the world!

Aussie grape growers and winemakers should be proud of their wines. There are excellent products on the market. But people have varied tastes, and you compete with all the wines on the shelf - not just local. In North Carolina, USA, we have over 90 wineries. But that does not mean we have to drink only wines from NC, or the USA. (Thank goodness) There are some very nice local wines that I like, and others that I will not buy at all. That is me. That is all of us, with individual tastebuds.

You need to ask where did your previous years sales drop off. I would bet that it was due to the weak US economy, that had sucked down container after container of Yellowtail and other well marketed labels, until the bubble burst in 2008. Rebuild your markets, and yes, Austrialia is your market. Maybe that means changing strategy, changing comlexities, or flavors to meet the local tastes.

We get advertisements to visit local wineries, take part in local events, and have wine dinners, etc. But it is great to explore and find the wines that suit our tastebuds.

I love all fine wine, wherever it challenges an pushes boundaries regardless of origin. It just happens that plenty of this wine is made in Oz but we too frequently defer to the old world.
Australians are rarely overtly patriotic so forgive us when we are, it's not a bad thing.

Very interesting! You can also read our post on this petition. VitaBella Wine Daily Gossip brings together some articles exclusively about Wine, read on the internet over the last 24 hours. This is a good article selected today by www.vitabella.fr

It's only for a month...lighten up!!!

I think it's a brilliant initiative, and highlights the struggles of the Australian Wine Industry to people who otherwise wouldn't have been aware.

No doubt the people who are criticising this campaign are the ones who would be screaming and yelling how "we didn't support our own industry" if the Australian Wine Industry all fell over.

The "buy Australian-made" message is not new, and is well received and recognised by the public. If we can communicate this message in regards to food and manufacturing, why can't we do the same in the wine industry?

Incidentally, New Zealand runs a very successful "buy locally made" campaign. It's a little hypocritical criticising Aussies for doing the same thing!

Maybe Philip can tell that to all the Australian growers out there having to pull their grapes out!!

Would it not have been better to set up a web-site to promote to people all over the world to find and try a great Aussie wine - and provide some daily examples to seek out - instead of putting walls up. Australia has a great reputation for shooting itself in the foot and this is yet another one.

I think that this idea is a great one. For a New Zealand interset to attack it and recieve backing shows a continuing attack on an industry which is under threat. By no means do I wish to only drink Australian wines, but to drink some of the exciting new fresh styles is a greeat idea. We are awash in a sea of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and its getting a little boring, just like when the world was only drinking overoaked Aussie Chardonnay.

Well done Mr Pannell

I see this as a positive for Australia, not a negative against the rest of the world! I believe many other countries already do this in their own sort of ways. At least the Australians aren't burning tanker loads of 'Spanish' wine like someone else I could mention!!!

interesting comment from the NZ winegrowers, especially since its their bulk Sauv Blanc that is causing the pinch in Aussie growers (WET tax refund anyone!). good on you Stephen at last someones stood up and said it!