Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Minister, what is the progress of the government’s alcopops measure and what will be the consequences if it is blocked?

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forde for his question. I know that many members on this side of the House are anxiously watching the proceedings in the other chamber. There have been developments today, with both the Greens senators and Senator Xenophon indicating that they will support this measure. But unfortunately we still have the Liberal Party, and particularly the Leader of the Opposition, opposing this bill. Very recently the Liberal Party in the Senate have indicated that they will oppose the alcopops measure. I have to say that this has now come to a point where the Leader of the Opposition has shown an absolute lack of any moral leadership on an issue that is a scourge across the country.

As a result of his failure and the Liberal Party’s failure to show any skerrick of moral leadership on this issue, if this matter is not passed then in just a few short weeks we will have teenage girls and teenage boys again able to buy alcopops for pocket-money prices—again drinking sweet and sugary drinks that are targeted at them. What is more, the Leader of the Opposition’s mates, the distillers, will get a tax break in the next four years of about $1.6 billion-plus. You have to ask yourself: what values does a leader have who opposes a measure like this? What kind of values compel the Leader of the Opposition to give a tax break to multinational alcohol companies that are selling sugary drinks to teenage girls? What sort of moral compass does the Leader of the Opposition have?

I want to read you some of the opinions of health experts who, unlike the Leader of the Opposition, are all too aware of the human cost of alcopops. Let me quote first of all the President of the AMA, Dr Rosanna Capolingua. She says:

We have to look at the alcohol industry and how it targets young people with alco-pops. It builds brand loyalty and the kids connect with a type of drink—they’re hooked in.

Then they go off and have an accident, or they’re king hit while waiting in a queue outside a tavern, or they’re raped or are having unprotected sex.

Those are the words of the President of the AMA. I can quote Geoff Munro, the Director of the Community Alcohol Action Network. Again, he is someone all too aware of the human cost of alcohol abuse—something that the Leader of the Opposition has refused to engage with, preferring instead to buddy up with his mates the distillers. Geoff Munro said:

… RTDs—

that is, alcopops—

are consumed by the riskiest drinkers and pose an immediate threat to the health and wellbeing of teenagers around Australia … Some single cans contain almost three standard drinks, which means young people get drunk quickly. Thousands of teenagers are admitted to hospital after overdosing on alcohol each year. Some suffer permanent brain damage, and some die, yet the industry is increasing the strength of drinks favoured by the youngest binge drinkers.

These people understand the human cost of alcohol abuse, but unfortunately the Leader of the Opposition is not prepared to take any sort of moral stand on this issue. I remind people that the Leader of the Opposition explicitly said that nothing could be done about binge drinking and it was pointless to even try. At the National Press Club last year he said, ‘One should never underestimate the enterprising ingenuity of the Australian drinker.’ Why not just give them a pat on the back and encourage them to drink even more, Leader of the Opposition! He has failed the test of moral leadership on this issue. He had a choice whether to lead public health experts, the police—

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Even by the standards of ministerial answers, this is grubby and offensive and it should be stopped. It is demeaning to the parliament to have this kind of imputation cast across the dispatch box.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It has often been said that this is a chamber of robust debate, and if in fact those who are being mentioned in the answer wish to have redress then there are avenues open for that at the end of question time.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise again on a point of order. The whole point is that there is no appropriate response to something which is as grubby and as low as this other than to move that the minister be no further heard—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Warringah will resume his seat. The minister has the call.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand why the former health minister takes objection to this: he too has been in denial about whether binge drinking exists. He is on the record as saying that this is an overstated problem. The Leader of the Opposition had a choice to make. He had a choice to make about whether he would follow the lead of parents, whether he would follow the lead of the police and whether he would follow the lead of the AMA—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In the interest of good taste, there are family members of people on this side of the House who have died as a consequence of binge drinking and it is deeply offensive for the Minister for Health and Ageing to accuse this side of the House of not being serious about binge drinking.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sturt will resume his seat.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Pyne interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Sturt has made his point. The minister has the call.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition had a clear choice to make. He had a choice about whether he wanted to be on the side of the health experts, the AMA, the police and the parents and join with us in tackling this issue. Instead, who did he decide to join? The distillers. This man has no moral compass on this issue and stands for nothing.