World War I also had a crushing effect on the industry. Asides from a precipitous collapse in trade, the industry tragically lost several key people, and this grim reality and a need to reconstruct Australian society set the stage for a new type of wine business. Government aid and financial support led to the development of soldier settlements and the development of new vineyards in irrigation areas around Mildura and Griffith and in established wine regions. Larger producers invested in new production facilities and gobbled up smaller enterprises. The introduction of the Export Bounty Act 1924, a gesture to Australia for its contribution to the war effort, pivoted the industry into a net producer of fortified wines and brandy. Whilst it was great for the bean-counters and the economy, Australian wine lost its way, not to recover as a fine wine producer for at least two generations. It is worth taking a pause to reflect that the experience of the wine industry between 1860 and 1914 offer a parallel with the wine industry from 1945 to the present day. The type of risks and opportunities presented throughout the 19th century is an analogue version of our digital experience of today. Our dependency on England in the 1890s to the 1910s mirrors our dependency on China in the 2010s. Our exposure to a life-threatening virus was mirrored in 1919, but viral or pestilential threats to livelihoods have been around for a long time, from oidium to phylloxera to malware, spyware and computer viruses today. Governments have also played their pestilential role by creating artificial trade barriers and protecting Government excise and revenues. Every large winery had an excise and customs officer who rigorously monitored the use of spirit in wine production. Any breaches were vigorously prosecuted. Rapid transmission of any kind brings both advantages and disadvantages. It promotes risks of contagion, increases the rate of new product development, and speeds up the redundancy of technologies. We saw that with the conversion of horses to steam engines, and then to petrol and now to clean energy. Adaptability and willingness to harness new ideas is essential. Federation in 1901 was based on challenges that were linked to the protection of sovereignty, the rule of law, and the economic power of a common market. But there were protectionist policies that were odious from the perspectives today. The mindset of colonial times and federation was what could be taken out of the land. Colonialism was about ‘matter of advantageous return’. Erosion, depletion of fertility, introduction of pests, diseases, inappropriate farming practices – the list goes on, and was inherent to the Australian experience. Ironically, the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, and McLaren Vale wine industries exist largely because of failures in broad acre farming. Although it is easy now to see the mistakes and terrible decisions of the past, Australia was not short of enlightenment and ambition. Before 1945 the wine industry was geared to the aspirations of the British Empire and its dominating presence on the world scene. But the pivot to fortified wine and brandy making for a whole
Our Place in Wine 107
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