Columnists

REINING IN THE RABID DOGMA

Brett Heffernan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Brewers Association of Australia

The Federal and State Government agreement that the draft National Alcohol Strategy (NAS) is out-of-whack, needs further consultation and must include industry, recognises some fundamental home truths. Everyone in alcohol is committed to minimising alcohol-related harms. Moderate consumption has been a cornerstone of industry marketing for decades and consumers have responded. Every official government measure is in decline and has been for decades; be it consumption per capita, underage drinking, women drinking while pregnant or binge drinking either on a single occasion or over a lifetime. Yet, in an ideological bubble pumped up by the self-righteousness of would-be social engineers, the draft NAS explicitly sought to exclude industry from all future consultation and pointedly denied the sector a seat on the proposed Alcohol Reference Group. Blinded by bias, this ignored successful industry initiatives that target alcohol harms through DrinkWise Australia and the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code. The fact that health ministers appreciate the inherent practical sense of partnering with the industry gives us some hope that the rabid dogma unleashed by the bureaucrats in the draft NAS can be brought to a heel. The final NAS must stand upon credible research and detailed analysis to inform public policy. Evidence consistently shows that the punitive population-wide approach adopted in the draft NAS fails to reduce alcohol harms. Striking a workable balance between those at risk of harms and the vast majority of Australians who consume alcohol responsibly, means dealing with problem drinkers through interventions relevant to them and their circumstances.

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS – WHAT’S HAPPENING IN CIDER?

Sam Reid is the President of Cider Australia and Co-Owner of Willie Smith’s

Hello everyone, I hope this finds you all well, and that by now you’ve managed to enjoy a hot cider or two! It’s traditionally a slow time of year for us cider producers, but a hot spiced/mulled cider is always a helpful way for venues to keep the tills turning. We’ve just finished up at Dark MOFO in Hobart, which brings the city to life in the middle of the cold, dark winter and where hot spiced cider and Hot Toddies are par for the course – everyone enjoys being outside in winter if they have a hot drink and fire! Our festival, the Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival is on this month, 13-15 July, and it’s a great way to bring the community together and celebrate all things apple related and the history of the Huon Valley apple industry with a 13-metre tall burning man (#bigwillie). This is the biggest bonfire you’ve ever seen, accompanied by morris dancers leading the largest wassail in the hemisphere. All of this takes place at our cellar door, Willie Smith’s Apple Shed, and the surrounding paddocks, and is one of a number of cider festivals we are starting to see pop-up around Australia. The longest running one is, of course, the Kellybrook Cider Festival in Melbourne. There is also the WA Cider Festival and the Batlow CiderFest in NSW. Most of these occur between April and July, post-harvest, and are a great opportunity to celebrate this great beverage we know as cider. Wassail!

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS AND RESPECT

Judd Michel is the Director of Beer and Cider at Coca-Cola Amatil

Everyone has their own theory on what makes successful leaders, but for me, I’ve found it often boils down to building relationships, trust and respect. From my own experience in the Women in drinks Serendis Mentoring Program last year, building influence and making yourself heard are great examples of these conversations, and just some of the ways that mentoring is helping to make a difference in our industry. Understanding others’ perspectives helps build effective business relationships that not only deliver better outcomes for the business and team, but also help individuals build their own and demonstrate what they bring to the table. My experience of mentoring is that often the first questions and the initial expectation of a mentee is that it’s about getting advice; they want to know what to do in a certain situation and what you would do. Where I found the Serendis Mentoring Program has delivered in, is by demonstrating that the real value of mentoring programs is not in giving exact advice, but in asking probing questions and giving mentees the chance to practise and role play, which then leads to discussions on what outcomes they might get and builds confidence. As a mentor, these conversations are also valuable, making you reflect on how to be a better and more effective leader. For any leader, understanding the challenges that your mentee is going through helps you to appreciate others’ perspectives, which improves your leadership style. It’s also a reminder to walk the walk and make sure that the guidance you’re giving others is consistent with your actions and value-set within your own business and team. My style of leadership and management is to be as transparent, honest and clear as possible. Sometimes that can come across as very direct, so mentoring keeps me conscious of how this style might affect other people and their ability to express themselves. It’s very valuable and enlightening.

FREE TRADE AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS

Tony Battaglene is the Chief Executive of the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia

Australia and the European Union have officially launched their Free Trade Agreement negotiations. This signals the beginning of what promises to be a long, drawn-out negotiation centred around sensitive areas for agriculture on both sides. The questions I am getting around the agreement focus on the risks to our domestic market. Principally: ‘Will we be flooded with European wine due to tariff reductions?’ The answer to this question is - no! The Australian tariff for imported wine is 5% and is not expected to have large supply impacts. Similarly, in Europe, the tariff is also minor and unlikely to stimulate demand to any great degree. The other interesting issue is that with Brexit, the whole system of European agricultural subsidies will come under pressure. The United Kingdom is a large contributor to the subsidy pool and their withdrawal from the EU leaves a big hole that cannot be filled by the other member states. There is a lot of pain ahead for EU wine producers. The big issue for WFA is, of course, maintaining our right to use grape variety names to describe our wines. Although the issue is headlined by ‘prosecco’, because of its high growth in demand, other grape varieties are equally at risk. However, we have been pro-active on this and are prepared to get down in the trenches! On the positive side, the EU is a huge market with plenty of growth potential, so watch this space!

YOU WON’T MISS A MOMENT OF THE AFL WITH DRINKWISE

Simon Strahan is the CEO of DrinkWise

In 2014, DrinkWise created the ‘You won’t miss a moment if you DrinkWise’ initiative. This partnership between DrinkWise, industry contributors, sporting codes and events management provides for a unified moderation message that encourages sports fans, music lovers and festival-goers to drink responsibly to ensure they don’t miss the most memorable moments of an event. The DrinkWise/AFL partnership has been a prominent part of the initiative, most recently featuring during the Red Centre AFL game in Alice Springs. This game, designed to showcase indigenous talent, also importantly raises awareness and understanding of cultural and social issues in the Northern Territory. The Adelaide vs. Melbourne game, drawing on the unifying and common language of AFL, provided a great opportunity for DrinkWise to extend moderation messages beyond the Red Dust Role Model health and well-being programs. Prior to the match, Adelaide superstar Eddie Betts spoke to Channel 7 about the importance of being a role model to young indigenous Australians and how the DrinkWise moderation message can help indigenous people break the cycle of alcohol abuse and allow them to realise their potential. Eddie also features in the latest ‘DrinkWise Unmissable Moments’ video, which was aired nationally during the game. For his ‘moment’, Eddie takes the audience back to the 2017 Preliminary Final when Charlie Cameron took a spectacular mark and kicked a goal that helped Adelaide through to the Grand Final. Eddie’s story also featured in the special Red Centre edition of the Footy Record magazine, integrating the ‘You won’t miss a moment if you DrinkWise’ messaging.

THE POWER OF INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP

Rosie Davenport is the Communications and PR Officer of Australian Vintage Limited, and a member of the Diversity & Inclusion Council

The positive impact embracing diversity and inclusion can bring to businesses was the theme of a sell-out networking event run by The Drinks Association last month. The breakfast session, entitled ‘Inclusive Leadership’, was the first event hosted by the association’s Diversity & Inclusion Council, which was formed to help ensure the drinks sector continues to inspire its teams and attract new talent. Keynote speaker, psychologist Dr Jennifer Whelan, urged leaders to develop practices promoting greater diversity and inclusion, including scrutinising hiring procedures, which she said had a tendency to focus on “someone looking like them, sounding like them, having the same training and socialising in the same way.” Dr Whelan said diversity was about overcoming unconscious bias and recognising when everyone in an organisation thinks in a similar way, the business will not grow and evolve as effectively. She also stressed the importance of fostering inclusion, as well as diversity, to ensure everyone in an organisation feels valued and involved. Denis Brown, Chairman of The Drinks Association’s Diversity & Inclusion Council, said: “The Diversity & Inclusion Council and the Drinks Board want to make sure the industry is genuinely an attractive one that retains the best and brightest talent. And one of the main ways to sustain that is through our leaders and their inclusive leadership.” The Diversity & Inclusion Council’s next event will take place in Sydney on 13 September, from 3–5pm, focusing on ‘Building an industry that’s future fit’. It will bring together CEOs, senior management teams and HR directors to hear the experiences of a panel of leaders from outside of the drinks industry on challenging biases and championing diversity to create more engaged and inspired teams.