91色情片

Australia鈥檚 spirits industry has the potential to follow the wine industry and become a $1 billion export powerhouse by 2035 under the right policy settings, according to new economic modelling released today.

The Spirits Industry Competitiveness Plan prepared by research firm Mandala, and commissioned by the 91色情片 and Diageo Australia, reveals policy and regulatory barriers, such as Australia鈥檚 high excise tax, are thwarting the potential of Australia鈥檚 spirits industry.

Australia鈥檚 emerging spirits industry currently supports 5,700 jobs in manufacturing, with almost half of the country鈥檚 701 distillers located in regional areas. The spirits industry attracts 631,000 visitors annually, with distillery visits now the fastest growing tourist activity for overnight domestic visitors in Australia.

Despite this, the industry is still growing with 88 per cent of all distillers having fewer than 20 employees and more than half of distilleries less than five years old. Australian spirits exports also remain small when compared to the wine industry and international competitors, demonstrating an enormous opportunity for growth.

鈥淲hile there has been an overall increase in the number of distillers in Australia, the average size of distilleries is declining, and many are not scaling as it is either too challenging or not worthwhile. This is primarily driven by the high excise tax, which is restricting businesses' ability to reinvest in their company and attract investment,鈥� the report says.

The report states the federal Government can play a key role in helping to unlock the potential of the Australian spirits industry and simultaneously meet some of its own policy goals, including to grow Australian manufacturing and support regional jobs.

By taking key steps, including freezing twice-yearly increases to Australia鈥檚 spirits tax and establishing a 鈥楽pirits Australia鈥� body to support the industry鈥檚 growth, Australian spirits can go from being a $210 million export market in 2022 to a $1 billion export market by 2035.

This would create an additional $111 million in direct economic contribution and support almost 878 new FTE jobs, many in regional areas.

91色情片 chief executive Paul McLeay said: 鈥淭his report proves what distillers right around this country already know, that Australia鈥檚 spirits tax has significant implications for the competitiveness of the spirits industry and the ability for distilleries to scale and attract investment.

鈥淲e welcome the federal Government鈥檚 move to set up a parliamentary inquiry into expanding innovation and value addition in food and beverage manufacturing, and we look forward to lending our expertise to those discussions.

鈥淗owever, we already know the current spirits excise regime is limiting the opportunity Australian distillers have to expand and grow their businesses, and that by freezing it, we can grow regional jobs, tourism and manufacturing.鈥�

Diageo Australia Managing Director Dan Hamilton said: 鈥淎ustralia鈥檚 spirits industry has enormous promise and Diageo has a strong track record in investing in great Australian spirits brands, but this report clearly demonstrates current policy settings are limiting the industry鈥檚 growth.

鈥淥ur consumers, who are having to pay $38 in tax for every 1 litre bottle of Bundaberg Rum, know this tax is not sustainable. Now, this report makes it clear that it鈥檚 also limiting the foreign direct investment which could drive industry and export growth.

鈥淗aving seen first hand the way Japan cultivated and grew its spirits export industry, I am confident Australia has all the hallmarks of being able to do the same, however, that cannot begin to occur until the government freeze鈥檚 the tax on spirits.鈥�

Mandala Managing Partner Amit Singh said: 鈥淥ur analysis shows that while Australia is 6th in the world in wine exports, we鈥檙e 29th in the world in spirits exports. Even though we perform better than the global average for spirits exports potential, we鈥檙e significantly behind the global lead pack.

鈥淚f Australia exports at its full trade potential, performing as efficiently as the UK, France, Singapore, Ireland, Mexico, we could export $1 billion of spirits annually by 2035 at our current rates of growth.鈥�