WA’s Sandalford calls on government to reconsider WET changes

REDUCING the Wine Equalisation Tax rebate will have a “catastrophic” impact on jobs in the local industry, says the boss behind one of WA’s oldest wineries. The Turnbull Government announced in its Budget that the WET rebate cap would be cut from $500,000 to $350,000 from July next year and further decrease to $290,000 in 2018. The changes are expected to boost government coffers by $300 million in revenue in the next four years, but Sandalford Winery chief executive Grant Brinklow said would also hurt WA’s largely boutique wine industry.