AGY-2061 | Wine Grapes Marketing Board for the City of Griffith and the Shires (later, Local Government Areas) of Leeton, Carrothool and Murrumbidgee

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The Marketing of Primary Products Act, 1927 (Act No.34, 1927), which received assent on 25 March 1927, (1) provided for the promotion of primary production by the formation of marketing boards representing producers and consumers of products. The Act conferred upon Marketing Boards powers with respect to marketing the products and making certain levies on the producers. (2) Under this Act producers of primary commodities could request polls to be conducted to determine whether a system of producer controlled marketing should be instituted and marketing boards set up if the majority of producers so desired. (3)

On 21 October the following Wine Grapes were declared a commodity under the Act - Black Shiraz, White Shiraz, Grenache, Riesling, Pedro (including Pedro Ximenes and Pedro Rutherglen), Palamino, Frontignac, Gordo Blanco, Doradillo, Mataro, Tokay (including Tokay Ruthererglen and Tokay South Australian), Ouliade and Sultana varieties of Wine Grapes. On 12 December 1932 a poll of the producers of wine grapes was taken to decide whether a marketing board should be constituted. (4) More than one half of the votes polled were in favour of a marketing board being constituted. On 27 January 1933 a poll was taken of the producers to elect five representatives of wine grapes producers to be members of the Wine Grapes Marketing Board. (5)

The Wine Grapes Marketing Board for the City of Griffith and the Shires of Leeton, Carrothool and Murrumbidgee was constituted on 3 February 1933 under the provisions of the Marketing of Primary Products, 1927.(6)

The Wine Grapes Marketing Board was constituted as a seven member board comprising five elected members - Leonard Henry Robert Bowkett of Yenda, John Patrick Terence Hannon of Beelbangera, Charles Theodore Lasscock of Griffith, George Robert Royston Pigott of Yenda, and John Clifford Thorne of Griffith and two members nominated by the Minister - Wilson Haledon Moses of Griffith and Phillip Henry Rutledge of Yenda. (7)

The Board had vesting powers over wine grapes produced in the shires of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) for which it was constituted. The Board collected a levy from producers to fund its operations, and it had the representational power to negotiate with wineries, on the growers' behalf, the price and terms and conditions of payment to growers for the seasons' harvest. (8)

On 31 December 1983, the Marketing of Primary Products Act, 1927 was repealed. It was replaced by the Marketing of Primary Products Act, 1983 (Act No. 176, 1983), continuing the constitution of the Marketing Board. (9)

On 15 December 1997, the Marketing of Primary Products Amendment (Wine Grapes Marketing Board) Act 1997 (Act No.125, 1997) commenced amending the powers of the Board. (10)

By 2000, the Board had begun trading as the 'Riverina Winegrape Growers'.

In 2003, The Wine Grapes Marketing Board (Reconstitution) Act 2003 (Act No.100, 2003) technically abolished the Board. The Wine Grapes Marketing Board was immediately re-established by the Agricultural Industry Services (Wine Grapes Marketing Board) Regulation 2003 as a continuation of the Board established under the 1983. (11)

The Agricultural Industry Services Regulation 2015 under the Agricultural Industry Services Act 1998, which commenced on 1 September 2015, provided the continuation of the Board as an agricultural industry services committee with the corporate name of the Wine Grapes Marketing Board. The regulation included all growers within the Board's area of operations who, during the previous calendar year, harvested more than 20 tonnes of MIA wine grapes, with some exceptions. (12)

The agricultural industry services for which the Board was constituted were as follows:
(a) the development of a code of conduct for contract negotiations between wine grape growers and wineries,
(b) the development of draft contract provisions with respect to the sale of MIA wine grapes to wineries, including provisions with respect to: (i) the prices to be paid by wineries, and (ii) the terms and conditions of payment to be observed by wineries, in relation to MIA wine grapes delivered to them by wine grape growers,
(c) the promotion of private contracts for the sale of MIA wine grapes to wineries by wine grape growers,
(d) the collection and dissemination of market and industry information, including the production and publication of indicator prices for MIA wine grapes grown in the Board's area of operations,
(e) the conduct of research and development into plant health in relation to wine grapes,
(f) the provision of education and training in relation to wine grape production and marketing,
(g) the promotion (in association with organisations representing wineries) of wine made from MIA wine grapes,
(h) the promotion of regional industry, including regional wine-making, within the Board's area of operations,
(i) the representation of the wine grape industry in relation to the matters referred to in paragraphs (a)-(h). (13)

Endnotes
1. Marketing of Primary Products Act, 1927 (Act No.34, 1927).
2. ibid.
3. ibid. s.5.
4. NSW Government Gazette, 21 October 1932, p.3842.
5. ibid., p.4406.
6. Report of the Director of Marketing NSW Agriculture, 30 June 1997, p.17.
7. NSW Government Gazette, 3 February 1933, p.525.
8. Report, 30 June 1997, op. cit., p.17.
9. NSW Government Gazette No.6, 13 January 1984, p.129.
10. Marketing of Primary Products Amendment (Wine Grapes Marketing Board) Act 1997 (Act No.125, 1997).
11. Agricultural Industry Services (Wine Grapes Marketing Board) Regulation 2003, cl.3.
12. Agricultural Industry Services Regulation 2015, cl.5.
13. Ibid. cl.9.