BOARD COMMUNICATION – 15  September 2021

The Board of the NSW Wine Industry Association held its first meeting for the 2021 / 2022 financial year on the 6 September via Zoom (note that the proposed AGM in August has been delayed to the 4 November due to Covid 19 restrictions).

Introduction

Since the last Board meeting held in June, there has been much disruption in Sydney and more recently regional NSW, due to lockdown and restrictions caused by Covid 19.

We have been working hard on securing support and advice for the industry during this extremely difficult trading period and there are a number of financial support mechanisms that are available. These include:

- Covid Disaster Business Grants

- Jobsaver Payments

- Payroll Tax Savings

At the time of writing the NSW Government is planning the public health order for the reopening of cellar doors and hospitality venues. There is still much clarity required on the situation between 70% and 80% vaccinations rates and the implications for both consumers and staff. The following was published on the ABC website on 15/09/21

The Premier delivered a stern message to any business intending to serve people who weren't vaccinated when 70 per cent of people aged over 16 are fully immunised and many businesses are permitted to open next month.

"All staff and all patrons at 70 per cent double dose will need to be fully vaccinated," she said.

"At 70 per cent, if you're not vaccinated, it will be a health order and the law that if you're not vaccinated you can't attend venues on the road map."

She said the rules were "black and white" and the penalties for purposely defying orders or not taking enough responsibility to check customers vaccination status would be announced in coming weeks.

The government is seeking legal advice about how the rules can be enforced, Ms Berejiklian said, and it may differ depending on the size of the business.

We continue to work on the MOU signed with government in April this year and particularly with reference to the opportunities in Export and also the Regional Wine Fund (details to follow)

NSW Wine continues to advocate strongly on behalf of the wine industry, and we wish to urge all regional associations and members across the state to take advantage of the opportunities that have been negotiated on your behalf.

Meeting Outcomes

Audit

The NSWWIA has now had the 2020 /2021 financial year audit reports, provided by one of our sponsors https://www.nexia.com.au/. We are pleased to report an operating profit of $35,512 and a healthy Balance Sheet.

AGM

The AGM is confirmed for Thursday 4th of November 2021. Depending on the Covid restrictions, we will either meet via Zoom or in person in Sydney. This meeting is open to all, and the details will be in future newsletters and on the website

Weather Stations

There are 17 units owned by the NSWWIA (and 6 further units that were handed on to the Riverina Winegrape Growers) that form part of the larger network of weather stations covered and recorded by the NSW DPI. It was agreed that the NSWWIA would pay for servicing these units prior to the season in October and November.

https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/horticulture/grapes/weather-stations-network/wsn

MoU Export Fund

NSW Wine has funded 50% of six NSW wine business’ into the USA entry market program run by Wine Australia.

More details to be updated on the NSW Wine Website in the coming days

https://nswwine.com.au/pages/export-fund-mou

Regional Wine Fund

We have met and finally agreed on the program with NSW.

There are 4 areas that have direct involvement form the regions:

- $140K for Competitive Grants

- $30K for Wine Education (WSET)

- $53K for Ambassador Program

- $48K for Regional Tasting Program

Details to come on the website - https://nswwine.com.au/pages/regional-wine-fund-mou

NSW Wine Awards

These will go ahead with the judging on the 22nd to 26th of November and the awards presentation lunch on Friday 10th of December. Both to be held at the ICC Sydney. We are working on the Covid plan for both events and we have back-ups in case there are further Covid related challenges. This year, the show will be chaired by Nick Spencer. Entries are about 20% down on last year’s record number, due mainly to the reduced output from the 2020 vintage due to bushfires/ smoke taint.

AGW and Wine Australia Update

AGW are in the process of vetting a new chair of the board for this association. AGW were also successful in receiving an ATMAC grant to help the wine industry export to countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Singapore. The NSWWIA continue to work closely with them and ensure that the objectives of NSW exporters are catered for in this program.

For Wine Australia, the appointment of a new CEO is still underway. NSWWIA provided detailed feedback on the proposed R&D program and note that more competitive funding would become available for the year 22/23

AgSkilled

Due to the current restrictions the delivery of AgSkilled funded courses have been delayed in many regions. An update on the program was given to the board. A list of funded programs for NSW Wine Industry employees can be seen in the following link

https://nswwine.com.au/pages/agskilled

NSW Bushfire Grant

An update was given on the $331k allocated to the NSWWIA as part of the grant. Look out for the AWRI workshops to be held via video in regions on the w/c 15th November

RFS Update

An update was given re the ongoing conversations with regards to the meetings with RFS at a state level. At the time of writing, the RFS and NSWWIA are finalising a Communications Agreement to be sent out to industry before the 2021/2022 season

Board Reports

All the office holders presented their reports. Of particular note was Liz Riley (VP R.D.E & B.). Liz outlined the prospectus written as a result of the NSW Innovation forum held in Griffith in June 2021. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ct79qOz1r0FDEjaXYdd7-43nG3Vo0mKI/view?usp=sharing

Liz announced that she would be stepping down as the VP of RDEB at the AGM this year. She was widely thanked and recognised for her substantial contribution to the NSWWIA.

CSU / NSWGIC Presentation

Dr. Leigh Schmidtke joined and gave us an update which can be seen here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vy3SKEPNNKyi7GYOxNwws0rubpvTZE1X/view?usp=sharing

New NSW Wine Website

Danielle Kennedy from DK Digital Solutions https://dkdigital.com.au/pages/consultations and Alex Burgener gave an update on the new NSW Wine Website which is going live as this is written. https://nswwine.com.au/

Dates for Future Meetings

• Thursday 4th November AGM and Board meeting (Zoom or Sydney – tbc)
• Tuesday 14th December 2021. Board meeting in Sydney
• Monday 14th February 2022. Zoom Board meeting
• Monday 20th June 2022. Board Meeting Sydney / Regional NSW