Rank and file grapegrowers and winemakers have been urged to speak out strongly in support of the continued long-term funding of the AWRI, or risk losing what’s described as a ‘unique and critical’ pillar of the Australian wine industry.

The Concerned Elders group is comprised of senior leaders from across the Australian grape and wine sector, both past and present, and has been a vocal critic of what it says are moves to “defund” the Australian Wine Research Institute.

The group says that when the existing four-year agreement between the AWRI and Wine Australia expires in mid-2026, a re-negotiated agreement would result in reduced funding from Wine Australia, which is currently in the process of developing its own five-year strategic plan detailing how it will invest industry levies and fees as well as federal government funding.

Concerned Elders spokesperson Brian Croser AO said that it’s of great concern that the AWRI’s ‘crucial’ role has apparently been ‘downgraded’ by Wine Australia.

“We know that Wine Australia is treating the AWRI as just another provider with no special qualities that will differentiate it from other institutions that offer the same sort of research capability.

“This is incorrect. There are no other institutions who have the corporate industry memory, experience, capability and expertise to deal with the very complex value-added product, which is wine, as opposed to other agricultural commodities.”

Croser said that the industry now has ‘a battle on its hands’ to ensure that adequate, ongoing funding is secured to retain the AWRI’s current capacity and capability.

The Concerned Elders had earlier released a statement in response to a February sector briefing paper in which the group claims Wine Australia outlined a severely reduced commitment to its funding of the AWRI.

“Does it signal the termination of the special funding arrangement between Wine Australia and the AWRI?” the group asked at the time.

“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,” their statement said.

According to the statement, “this apparent self-advertised future defunding comes after the significant existing reduction of funding of the current four-year agreement”.

Croser said that at this critical juncture, it is essential for those across the industry to ‘join the call’ to help retain the AWRI’s crucial industry role.

“Australian grapegrowers and winemakers are the biggest beneficiaries of the AWRI and they will be the people who miss it the most when it’s gone.

“The more voices we’ve got from industry, the better. The industry is, obviously, under severe stress at the moment and preoccupied with the vintage […] but industry will shake its head when the AWRI has been diminished to the point of perhaps even disappearing; it will shake its head when it realises what it’s lost.

“We need a concerted outcry from those that benefit most from the AWRI’s expertise, which is the Australian wine industry.”

A potential ‘tragedy’ of global reach

Croser said that it had taken many decades to build up the current R&D capabilities of the AWRI, and that its demise would be a “tragedy” of international significance.

“It is unique in a world sense. It’s supported by the University of Adelaide in a synergistic relationship which has been measured [jointly] as the number one oenological research ‘institution’ in the world.

“You don’t build that in a day. It’s taken since 1955 to build it, and it seems like it’s going to take one board tenure of Wine Australia to destroy it. So, it’s a major, major tragedy in the making.”

In response to questions from Daily Wine News, Dr Martin Cole, CEO Wine Australia said that: “The current Investment Agreement is in place until the end of FY2026. We cannot comment on the terms of the Agreement as it is not publicly available information (nor should it be)”.

Dr Cole also said that “any future negotiations will be entered into by the Wine Australia and AWRI Boards closer to this time [the end of FY2026]”.

When asked about claims of ‘downgrading’ of the role of the AWRI to potentially favour other service providers, Dr Cole said that “Despite declining levy and matched funds available, and a broader remit than ever before, AWRI remains the largest recipient of levy investments”.[1]

“Our Independent Performance Review (December 2022) included a recommendation that Wine Australia “collaborate outside the current provider base” as a means of maintaining and growing the sector’s capability to address urgent priorities. The Independent Performance Review is a condition of Wine Australia’s Statutory Funding Agreement.”

Wine Australia “absolutely” committed to maintaining capability

Dr Cole said that Wine Australia is “absolutely” committed to ensuring “the [R&D] capability that the sector requires is maintained and developed, in the AWRI and elsewhere”.

“In recent times we have ring-fenced critical industry services delivered by AWRI (the helpdesk, library and Dog Book), protecting them against impacts of vintage reduction.

“Our focus is on delivering value for levy dollars, and investing those levies to address the innovation priorities of the sector identified in the One Grape & Wine Sector Plan — it’s imperative that the sector has the capabilities required to deliver on these into the future.”

Regarding whether ‘enough is being done’ to ensure the future viability of the AWRI, Dr Cole said that “Wine Australia has gone to exceptional lengths to support the AWRI as a longstanding service provider of the grape and wine sector.

“We recognise their contributions to the sector’s success over many decades and continue to work with them on developing solutions for some of the sector’s most pressing challenges.

“It’s also important to recognise that in the face of declining levies, increased inflation, and a changing operating environment and global outlook, that research and innovation priorities are also shifting.

“Wine Australia wants to see the long-term sustainability of AWRI. We are focused on the future viability of the sector more broadly and this requires us to work with other research partners and explore capability to address areas of increasing relevance such as climate change, biosecurity, plant breeding, people development, insights and technology.”
Dr Cole said that with the sector “facing ongoing challenges,” Wine Australia’s responsibility “is to our levy payers”.

“All of us within the sector recognise that globally, the wine sector is facing a number of headwinds which have left many organisations like the AWRI with pressures on funding levels and the need to be even more responsive to changing operating conditions. Here in Australia, levy and Commonwealth funding is tied to the volume of grape crush nationally which has reduced in recent years, so Wine Australia is also subject to those pressures.

“The future direction of AWRI funding, including any future Investment Agreements, is ultimately for both Boards to determine, taking in to account the evolving needs of the sector and broader industry outlook.

“We remain dedicated to working collaboratively with the AWRI under the terms of our Investment Agreement, to ensure fit for purpose solutions to address the innovation needs of the Australian grape and wine sector.”

Focused on supporting the grape and wine sector

Meantime, AWRI managing director Mark Krstic said the research organisation remains committed to supporting the grape and wine sector.

“AWRI remains focused on supporting the Australian grape and wine community through world class research, practical solutions and knowledge transfer. We remain committed to working constructively on our ongoing strategic partnership with Wine Australia to help ensure we can continue to deliver value for money research and innovation outcomes for the Australian wine sector.”

Speaking on behalf of the Concerned Elders, Brian Croser said that the group now intends to lobby federal and state authorities in a bid to ‘secure the research body’s future’.

“We are looking to engage with the government in Canberra [and] with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; we will also seek to engage with the South Australian government, because South Australia’s got the most to lose in this,” he said.

Besides Brian Croser AO, the members of the Concerned Elders are chair Louisa Rose, 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.

Many members of the Concerned Elders have held senior roles at the AWRI, including as members of its board, council or technical committees. Two of its members, Louisa Rose and Peter Dawson, have recently served as chair of the AWRI board.

[1] This was detailed further in the sector briefing paper issued in July: https://www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/a1a1ca9f-7e16-4a12-8a43-e43a788b8287/20240724-Wine-Australia-funding-for-research-briefing-paper.pdf

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