Mark Metherell
March 26, 2012
The Age
The Greens want Australia to increase taxes on cheap alcohol.
BRITAIN’S decision to lift the minimum price of alcohol in a bid to counter widespread drunkenness should prompt the Australian government to rethink its refusal to increase taxes on cheap grog, Greens health spokesman Dr Richard Di Natale says.
The British government late last week announced it would almost double the floor price of cheap, strong drinks such as cider and wine to “turn the tide” against binge drinking, which accounts for half of all alcohol consumed there.
The move means a cheap bottle of wine costing about $4.45 would rise to $5.60 and a strong lager would rise from $1.11 a can to $1.79.
In Australia, the Henry review in May 2010 recommended volumetric taxation on alcohol be introduced to ensure drinks were taxed according to their strength. That move would have significantly increased the price of cask wine, which has been identified as a major culprit in binge drinking, but the government rejected any major changes while there was a glut in the wine industry.
Senator Di Natale said it appeared the government was not prepared to take on some vested interests even though there were several big players in the industry who favoured tax change.
“We would call on the government to follow the lead of the United Kingdom government to treat this is as a public health issue,” he said.
“Alcohol abuse and dependence costs Australia over $30 billion a year.
“We are putting the interests of some people in the alcohol industry ahead of the public health of Australians.”
There remained a “worrying increase in binge drinking among young people in Australia”, Senator Di Natale said.
If the government were serious about closing the gap for indigenous Australians in health and other outcomes, an increase in the floor price of alcohol should form an important part of any policy.
Trish Worth, who chairs the alcohol industry’s public education group, DrinkWise, said lifting the floor price seemed a simplistic solution to a complex problem that appeared to be significantly worse in Britain than in Australia.
Ms Worth said research was showing signs of improvement in Australia, such as adults moderating their drinking habits in front of their children.
Increasing the price of alcohol would hit all consumers.
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