Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my friend and colleague the member for Cowper for moving this motion. I think it's a really important motion. It's important for our communities and for our small businesses that operate this trade.

I think most people would understand that the excise that we put on alcohol goes up twice every year and that it has been doing that for 30 years, so the compounding effect of these price increases is obviously making many things unaffordable. I know the member for Cowper did this when he spoke earlier, but I just want to remind the chamber of two stats, and they are these: 60 per cent of the cost of packaged full-strength beers and 47 per cent of the cost of mid-strength beers is now tax. So, basically, just under half of what a mid-strength beer costs you is a tax and 60 per cent of a full-strength beer is a tax. That's obviously a lot of the cost of the product. The other stat that I want to remind the chamber of is that 63 per cent of the cost of an average bottle of spirit comprises a tax.

Now, Madam Deputy Speaker Sharkie, you would know, as I know—we all know—that the intention of this, when it was brought in, was good. The intention was to discourage antisocial behaviour or to discourage behaviour that would not be good for your health, but I think we have gone beyond that now. We've gone way beyond that. Dare I say it, governments are now a little bit addicted to the revenue that they get from this and the compounding effect of that revenue.

We have 600 distilleries operating across Australia. The majority are actually in regional areas, and they contribute over 5,000 jobs. So, besides the product, this is a serious business, a serious employer, in our communities. I know the member for Cowper did something that I won't do. He started naming the names of some of the great businesses in his electorate. I won't do that. I have some great pubs, clubs, distilleries and breweries, but there are stats that I think are important to remind people of. There are over 6,000 pubs and taverns and over 6,000 clubs across Australia. The important stat here is that 90 per cent of them employ 20 persons or fewer. I know that in my case the majority of the distilleries, breweries, pubs, clubs et cetera are small businesses, and they're really important gathering places. They're important for people socially. I think they're important for community harmony. People get together and have fun, socialise and do what they do.

This increase in excise may have a perverse health outcome as well. Every person knows that if you sell alcohol on your premises you're governed by a lot of regulation. I'm actually old enough to remember when there wasn't a lot of regulation about how you sold alcohol and who you sold it to. I probably shouldn't say this, but I think I had my first drink at a pub when I was about 16, and my local priest bought it for me. But, anyway, we won't go into that; he was a good guy. The industry now is educational. Pubs, clubs and distilleries take what they sell very seriously. They sell a good product, but they don't want people to use and abuse it. So the educational things that they do and the way in which they regulate people's behaviour is, I think, important, especially for younger people when they start going out and socialising at these places.

The accommodation and food services sector employs 900,000 full-time, part-time and casual positions across Australia. This excise is also affecting the night-time economy, which is a significant contributor to live performances. Arts and cultural events generate $146 billion in sales turnover, and 131,000 venues employ more than a million people. The member for Cowper has mentioned this because most people in my community who are involved in this industry are basically telling us that this is now getting to a tipping point. We're not alone across the globe in this. The UK have had an interesting experience. A year or so ago they increased the price of spirits by 10 per cent, and they immediately had a 20 per cent fall in sales. The tax increase contributed to the largest rise in inflation ever recorded in the UK and to lower tax revenue. This has obviously played a role—it's played a good role—but we're getting to the point now where we need to stop this and come up with a more comprehensive policy.

I mentioned before that why this would ever have a perverse health outcome is because more people are making illicit products, which is bad for people's health. I didn't realise my time was about to run out.

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