Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with the Château Tanunda team at its Cellar Door in Sydney to speak with Managing Director Michelle Geber about Australian wine exports to China ahead of his week-long diplomatic trip.
Since China lifted its tariffs on Australian wine imports, many wineries have seen their wine exports jump and Château Tanunda is one of these.
The PM and Geber talked about the positive impact the removal of tariffs has had for the winery.
“We’re a 135-year-old family winery, and the resumption of trade in China has meant so much to our business. Over the last year, we’ve seen an increase in 1,000 per cent of our sales into China,” Geber said.
The Prime Minister said that he would be speaking with Premier Li and President Xi Jinping during his trip to China, with the country accounting for about 25 per cent of all Australian exports, bigger than the next four countries combined.
Albanese said: “As Michelle said, the fact that this business here has increased its exports to China by more than a thousand per cent, and that’s replicated in the Barossa Valley, in the Clare Valley, in the Hunter Valley, in Margaret River, in Tasmania, in the Riverina, in the wine regions of Australia, in which those regional jobs are so important. And so, there is a real interest in ensuring that Australia benefits from trade in our region.
“My Government has worked very hard to diversify trade as well and to increase our relationships with other countries in the region, including India and Indonesia and the ASEAN countries. But the relationship with China is an important one.”
He added: “We’ve worked hard to bring back trade with China – and that means jobs for Australians. Barley, beef and live rock lobster trade is booming, and wine is flowing again. For producers like Château Tanunda, that means bottles on shelves, jobs in the regions, and confidence for the future.”
The Prime Minister will be accompanied by business leaders during the visit in hope of further strengthening the relationship between Australia and Chinese markets for trade.