Casella Family Brands Managing Director John Casella has called on the Australian Government to establish a national spirits body similar to Wine Australia.

In an opinion piece in The Australian, Casella said Australian distillers are “largely left to fend for themselves without government backing or a unified strategy”.

The recent Inquiry Into Food and Beverage Manufacturing in Australia, which delivered several recommendations aimed at unlocking the industry’s $1 billion export potential. 

The bipartisan House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources that led the inquiry, which was chaired by Labor MP Rob Mitchell, tabled its report on 20 February 2025.

It recommended the establishment of a body called Spirits Australia to improve regulation, support innovation and realise export opportunities, acknowledging the success of the Wine Australia model.

“The policy shortcomings have become abundantly clear to me since Casella diversified into spirits, with our 2016 purchase of the 165-year-old Morris family winery in Rutherglen, Victoria,” Casella said.

Morris unveiled its newly renovated cellar door and whisky distillery in Rutherglen, Victoria, last year.

“We have invested a total of $30 million re-purposing the site to produce distinctly Australian single malt whisky, which is aged in former wine barrels and finished in Morris’s prize-winning fortified wine barrels,” Casella said.

“Morris of Rutherglen is one of the only distilleries in the world to do this, giving us a unique proposition to take to whisky aficionados around the world. Morris Whisky is already one of the top selling Australian single malt whiskies in the domestic market, and we have begun exports to the US, Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, the UK, New Zealand and Taiwan.

“We need the federal government to share in our export ambitions, because of the clear opportunities for economic growth and job creation in regional areas, where 50% of Australian distilleries are.”

Morris joined an export collective of nine Australian distillers last month to represent the country on the global spirits stage, as part of the Melbourne Pavilion at ProWein Düsseldorf 2025. ProWein attracts over 49,000 trade visitors from 140 countries, providing a platform for Victoria’s distillers to strengthen their export footprint.

Casella noted that when it comes to exports, Australian spirits rank 23rd globally, with trade value of $112 million, while the local market is dominated by international brands.

In Australia, whisky is the largest spirits category, with most products on shelf either from Scotland or the United States, with local brands accounting for less than 2% of the whisky consumed.

Casella said realising the export potential of Australian spirits could inject an additional $111 million into the economy and create 878 new full-time equivalent jobs by 2035.

But, he noted, the “industry is being crippled by the world’s third highest spirits tax, which has increased by 20 per cent in the past four years”.

“Unlike global brands that can achieve economies of scale across larger volumes, small local producers risk pricing themselves out of the market if they pass these costs onto consumers,” he said.

Casella said excise tax was holding distillers back from expanding internationally. He also pointed to last week’s tariff announcement by the Trump administration.

“Now that Americans are looking after America first, it surely compels our government to look after the Australian spirits manufacturing industry, and hedge against the increasingly volatile trade environment by diversifying our beverage exports,” he said.

“Government investment and support is vital to help the industry fulfil its potential.”