Alcopops tax revival…
Commentators have argued that the tax was a cynical and selective tax grab when it was introduced last year. It still is. Evidently, the increased cost of alcopops led to people switching to straight spirits. While sales of bourbon-based alcopops dropped by 40 percent in the latter part of last year, business in wholesale bourbon rose by nearly 60 percent.
Typical binge drinkers – teenage boys and young men – kept drinking what they always have – beer, and lots of it.
In February, the Federal Government attempted to prove that the tax was really a reduction measure by extending it to pre-mixed beer and wine drinks. But as the spirits industry argues, overall consumption figures are not the same as figures on binge drinking, and even if some spirit sales are lower, beer drinking has increased. Nor are there any numbers breaking out consumption by age.
If the government really believes increasing the cost can reduce abuse, it could lift the tax on all alcohol: wine, beer, spirits. But this would upset wine growers and brewers and irritate the vast majority of Australians who drink responsibly.