Retiring Riverland grape grower says industry support has come too late

Retiring Riverland grape grower says industry support has come too late Green leaves shoot out from budding grapevines, but like many growers in South Australia's Riverland, Jack Papageorgiou's fruit will go unharvested. For more than five decades, Jack has dedicated himself to caring for this land. He survived the crippling Millennium Drought, when low irrigator allocations drove temporary water prices sky-high. But the wine industry downturn, which has seen some growers receive prices below the cost of producing their wine grapes, has cost his family too much. "We kept injecting money, particularly my wife had to pull out $150,000 in super, and that really hurt,"he said. "But we had no choice or else … we would have been hurting even more." Now, Jack is ready to call it quits. "I hope I find a buyer before the next vintage, but I'm hoping in the next 12 months I will have the property sold," he said. Support too late Last month, the South Australian government announced a $109 million package for the struggling wine industry, featuring loans of up to $500,000 to help growers transition to other crops. But older growers like Jack say the support has come too late. "I wish they would have looked at the wine industry five years ago." Jack said many growers had "lost faith" with no improvement in sight, reflected in vacant land across towns that were once a sea of vineyards. "A lot of grape growers made a commercial decision that this is unsustainable," he said. "Their heart is not as strong as it used to be." From Athens to Cooltong Jack migrated to Australia from Greece with his mum and two brothers in 1964, his father joining them the following year, prompted by the search for "a better life". The family lived in Melbourne for about a decade, where Jack finished his schooling, before moving to Cooltong in South Australia's Riverland. The three brothers began their 15-year farming partnership with a shared chequebook, and a loan from their parents to run their wine-grape, citrus and dried-fruit property. In the years since, the brothers purchased their own properties and moved on to other ventures. "Now, the only way out is to sell out and enjoy a bit of quality of life because we worked hard and we don't deserve this,"Jack said. But finding a willing buyer will be difficult, with banks often unwilling to lend money for properties with vineyards and his land unsuitable for subdivision to create housing. ABC Riverland — local news in your inbox Life beyond the vines Jack's life changed when his son Theo died by suicide in 2016. He channelled the experience into mental health support within his community, including weekly coffee catch-ups with his fellow growers. "It's no good sitting on your own, worrying about it and getting stressed," he said. "You are better off just engaging yourself with the rest of the community and trying to support each other." Riverland Wine executive officer Andrew Weeks said Jack had been committed and courageous in his contributions to the community. "Jack's always been very willing to go and stick his hand up and put himself on the line and advocate for growers," he said. "He's been involved in a number of different hearings or local meetings with different politicians at all sorts of levels and putting his hand up and saying to people: 'This is not good enough.' "At the end of the day, we need people like Jack. We need people like that to help others through really difficult times." As for what he will do next, Jack hoped to hit the road to see more of Australia and return to "the old country" — Greece. But most of all, he wanted to dedicate his energy to his loved ones. "I'm 73, I believe I've still got years to live yet," he said. "I'd like to share that time with my wife, and my daughter, and my grandson now. They're three of my priorities."