Two of Australia’s key wine industry bodies, the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA) and Australian Vignerons (AV) have entered in formal discussions on a potential amalgamation.
The move would see the two industry bodies join to create a single united peak body, to represent the Australian grape and wine sector at the federal level.
WFA Chief Executive, Tony Battaglene, said that the move is something that has been mooted in the past and that it could help the wine industry have a stronger voice on the federal stage.
“There have been discussions over the years for reform of the grape and wine representative bodies, to deliver greater unity and representation of the sector as a whole,” Battaglene said.
“It has been made clear to me, that political parties of all persuasions would welcome representation from a single body for the grape and wine sector and our advocacy efforts would be much stronger.”
AV Chief Executive Officer, Anna Hooper said that WFA and AV have been holding discussions on how to achieve better service delivery for the whole sector.
“The creation of a single body will provide stronger representation for our members, improve efficiency and increase positive outcomes for the entire grape and wine sector,” Hooper said.
“This proposal demonstrates a fantastic example of collaboration and leadership that Australian Vignerons is proud to be part of. We look forward to the prospect of being able to deliver more for our members, and the sector as a whole.”
WFA and AV are now in formal discussions on the structure of a single organisation, with the objective of a vote on the amalgamated body to be presented to Members in November 2018.
Both WFA and AV Boards support these moves and believe that this is an important first step in better delivering outcomes for the sector as a whole, and will enable the delivery of a program of work that will benefit all sector participants.