Of particular significance has been the growth of wine and cheese as exports to Japan. There used to be a time when the only wine imported into Japan came from Europe, but that is rapidly changing and nights like tonight are a partial reminder to our competitors of just how determined Australia is to rapidly expand her wine and cheese exports to the huge market that is Japan. I want to commend the Australian Wine Export Council for opening an Australian Wine Bureau in Tokyo. I want to commend the work of that Bureau and I understand that there will be a series of promotions, including a major promotion in all the restaurants and bars of this prestige hotel, the Hyatt, of Australian wine in November. And I understand that this very hotel has already held a number of Australian wine promotions recently.
Australian wine is one of our great exporting successes of recent years.
And the quality of our wine is also increasingly recognised in Japan, with an Australian red winning the trophy for the best red wine at the inaugural Japan International Wine Challenge held late last year in Tokyo. Likewise our dairy industry has enjoyed quite spectacular export success in recent years. Australia is the leading supplier of cheese to Japan with a market share of more than 40 per cent and that represents just under half of Australia s total cheese exports and a quarter of all Australian cheese production. And that particular story is very relevant on a day when the fluctuating fortunes of Australia s trade overseas is very much in the news back home. What it reminds us is that you can never generalise about trade.