First there were the grants — $485,771 to Citrus Australia to help orchardists target the Indian market — then congratulatory toasting to wine growers who will see their current Indian import tariff of 150 per cent reduced to 50 per cent (for cheap wine) and 25 per cent (for premium wine) over the next 10 years.
Nationals candidate for Nicholls Sam Birrell took Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud to Tahbilk winery at Nagambie to mark the occasion.
“The India agreement is a huge achievement and opens the door to the population of over 1.3 billion people,” Mr Birrell said.
Alister Purbrick from Tahbilk said this was a solid step forward for the wine industry.
“It will benefit moderate and cool climate regional winemakers who decide to export to India,” Mr Purbrick said.
“It will also allow these winemakers to increase sales over time as further staged tariff reductions are implemented over the next 10 years.”
Finally there was the Agriculture Visa, which was originally an invitation-only visa extended to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Kingdom.
With India now on a 10-year schedule to align strongly with Australia’s economy, the Federal Government has included the country on this exclusive list.
Mr Littleproud said the decision was made as part of the free-trade deal.
“No only will it be about gaining workers, but it can be a transfer of knowledge and help them modernise their own farming back home,” he said.
“The Ag Visa will be a structure change that moves agriculture away from the transient workforce and creates a new generation of migrants.”
Under the Ag Visa, migrants must spend four years working, then spend an extra two to three years in the regions before gaining permanent residency.
“We think if someone has spent six to seven years in a community, they’re entrenched, they’ve got kids going to school, friends, a home and they aren’t going to run off to Melbourne once they get residency,” Mr Littleproud said.
So far only Vietnam has signed on to the Ag Visa and Mr Littleproud said Vietnamese workers who applied for the visa would be landing in Australia “as quickly as the paperwork can be done”.
Only approved employers and labour hire companies can hire migrant workers through the Ag Visa.
