The Andrews Labor Government is supporting the state’s world-class wine industry with a new $2.5 million package to help growers and producers impacted by the recent bushfires with technical advice to help make the best decisions for their business.

Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes today visited the King Valley to endorse the package which will support producers who have been directly affected by bushfires or whose current vintage of wine grapes may be affected by smoke exposure.

The support package includes:

• $1.2 million for potential smoke exposure testing for growers which will provide a rebate to help growers get smoke exposure tests from specialist labs. The rebate will be capped at $1200 per grower and will be available state-wide
• $1 million for grants to growers who receive a test result that suggests their grapes might be smoke affected to assist with technical decision-making advice and support
• $300,000 to research reliable and inexpensive predictive tests for potential quality impacts of smoke.

The support package is in addition to the assistance the Labor Government has been providing since 23 January for the collection and transport of grape samples to laboratories for testing of potential quality impacts of smoke.

The wine industry bushfire support package builds on the government’s investment in Victoria’s wine industry, through the Wine Industry Development Strategy.

For further details about accessing the new support package, visit agriculture.vic.gov.au.