Libs say wine grower support must be uncorked
The state opposition is calling for a multi-million-dollar fund that’s been dormant for a decade to be unleashed. A key player behind the push now vying for the party’s state presidency.
Liberal Primary Industries spokesperson Nicola Centofanti is bringing a bill to parliament this week in a bid to unlock more than $28 million for the state’s struggling wine industry.
It comes after Centofanti revealed she was the mystery rival taking on conservative federal backbencher Alex Antic for the SA Liberal Party’s presidency.
Liberals on all sides remained tight-lipped about Centofanti’s run until nominations closed on Friday evening, after weeks of rumours swirled around who it could be and claims that terse threats were made against current president Leah Blyth from recontesting.
Centofanti said she put her hand up believing her “experience, commitment and understanding of our organisation can make a positive contribution at an important time for the Division”.
“This is an administrative role, and my focus would be on good governance and ensuring our grassroots members are genuinely engaged in the Party,” she said.
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Centofanti, who entered parliament in 2020 and is the party’s leader in the state’s upper house, will go head-to-head with federal backbencher Antic at the party’s upcoming AGM on September 19.
Meanwhile, Centofanti joined Liberal Leader Ashton Hurn today to announce the move to unlock dormant cash for struggling grape growers, after months of job losses and cellar door closures plagued the industry.
Hurn said the regional development fund established in 1985 left “millions sitting on the sidelines when many growers are battling”.
She said the government should release funds from the Rural Industry Adjustment and Development Fund, which currently holds close to $28.4 million according to the Auditor-General.
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“This fund hasn’t been used for 10 years, and we think now is the time to get some of that money out the door,” Hurn said.
“The fund exists for times like these, and Labor should use every possible tool at its disposal to help growers diversify and keep their businesses afloat.”
Centofanti previously called for this money to be unlocked after news emerged in May that award-winning vineyards and cellar doors – including Chapel Hill in McLaren Vale – were among sites being shut down by the owner of Dan Murphy’s.
Endeavour Group, which owned Chapel Hill, said it planned to slash its grape production by more than 80 per cent in a bid to reduce investments in its grape growing portfolio. It followed redundancies at the Randall Wine Group as the industry grapples with a grape oversupply crisis, rising costs, a drop in global consumption, and now exploding fuel prices.
McLaren Vale vineyard contractor Clint Ledgard said he had never seen a crisis like this hitting SA’s grape growing industry.
“Sadly, we now have an increasing number of growers simply abandoning their vineyards and that is only going to continue,” Ledgard said.
“The only alternative to selling their properties is transitioning into other crops, but the cost can be prohibitive leaving growers feeling trapped.
“This fund would give many an opportunity to make that transition instead of walking away from their vineyards, leaving their land derelict and unproductive.”
Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven previously told InDaily the fund had not been used for 10 years, and its effectiveness was “limited” because of requirements to increase the interest on loans to commercial rates.
Scriven said the government had also invested $3.1 million in the South Australian Wine Recovery Program to boost domestic demand and support vineyard waste management.
Centofanti’s bill to go to parliament this week is called the Rural Industry Adjustment and Development (Loan Interest) Amendment Bill 2026, and she says it “directly addresses” the government’s reasons for not making the money available.
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