South Australia’s A$109m wine lifeline: loans to A$500k, two years free of repayments
Premier Malinauskas unveiled a A$109m Wine Industry Transition and Growth Package: A$100m in loans (to A$250k small / A$500k larger) with no principal or interest for two years, plus A$5m Global Wine Growth for two more years, diversification advice, surplus-stock work and CCA post disposal.
South Australia still grows most of Australia’s premium wine. The state is now paying to help some vines leave the crush.
Premier Peter Malinauskas launched a A$109 million package built with industry after a growers’ forum. The core is a A$100 million government-backed loan book for growers moving unviable vineyards toward other land uses: up to A$250,000 for smaller operations and A$500,000 for larger ones, with no principal or interest due for the first two years (about 7.2% interest flagged afterward).
Alongside sit A$5 million to extend the Global Wine Growth Program for two years, A$1 million over two years for independent diversification advice, A$500,000 toward surplus inventory solutions, and A$2 million for CCA-treated post disposal and regional storage. A Wine Industry Coordinator will stitch growers, government and regions; a A$675,000 food-and-wine tourism push rides with the pack.
The stakes are statewide: 18 regions, almost 700 wineries, more than 73,000 ha, about 90,000 jobs, roughly 80% of Australia’s premium wine and about A$2.4 billion in revenue. Riverland voices say many reds still clear below cost — the loans are meant to end the paralysis between pulling out and hanging on.
Mini-concept: a transition loan is not a vintage bailout. It buys time and capital so land can change use without forcing every row through another loss-making harvest.
Keep: when an SA bottle still tastes like Barossa or Riverland pride, ask whether the neighbour’s rows took the lifeline — or stayed in the glut.
Remember: A$109m pack; A$100m loans to A$250k/A$500k, 2y repayment holiday; A$5m Global Wine Growth +2y; A$2m CCA posts; SA ~80% of Australia’s premium wine.
Source: ABC News