Former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer will head the National Wine Foundation, a wine industry initiative of the Winemaker’s Federation of Australia and the National Wine Centre of Australia, whose purpose is ‘to fund or commission projects that address social problems in the Australian community that can lead to alcohol abuse’. The Foundation will allocate expenditure of around $1.5 million derived from the Centenary of Federation wine project. This wine was blended up from donations of 1999 wine from across the entire Australian wine industry and was bottled in magnums. To say the very least, the WFA has been deafeningly quiet about its launch and progress. Mr Fischer’s appointment commences after his retirement from Parliament in November this year.
