Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to share with the parliament an incredibly fun and vibrant festival that we have in Warringah, Brookie Fest. It was on last weekend. It's an amazing event that brings so many of our community together. Breweries, distilleries and eateries across Brookvale on Sydney's northern beaches came together to make a really fun festival. The festival had everything from Dachshund races, chilli-eating competitions and skate demos to ice-cold beers, delicious food, great cocktails and live music—everything that brings together a community and a lot of fun.

The businesses behind Brookie Fest are passionate, local businesses driving a local, vibrant energy and economy in the Brookvale area. There are a number of craft breweries and craft distilleries, including gin distilleries and others. There are also eateries and other options. Unlike other small businesses, our local brewers carry a huge financial burden, from growing inflationary pressure to the price of energy and issues around staffing. There's also the question of alcohol excise, especially on spirits, which has jumped 15 per cent in three years. Now that has a huge impact on the local distillery industry.

There is discrepancy in how we treat different industries, particularly craft beer breweries and distilleries. In September last year, the crossbench wrote to the Treasurer asking to reduce the impact of the alcohol excise on distilleries, and, while I appreciate the Assistant Treasurer's response, it did not go to the issue. Our independent brewers and distilleries are the cornerstone of our Warringah community. The closure of these businesses would have a flow-on effect on the local community. They employ locally and support small businesses in the area. It's important the government enact measures that will support these businesses. I call on the government again to freeze the indexation of alcoholic excise until 2026, to index the excise remission cap annually in line with inflation and to extend the deadlines for payback of excise debt to the ATO.

There is another event coming up that's going to be exciting. That is the Sydney Mardi Gras. I can't talk about that without talking about our incredible LGBTQIA+ community and Fusion Pride, a fantastic local project driven by members of our community. Warringah has changed a lot over the years. We're heading for our third year in a row of being part of the Sydney Mardi Gras and celebrating inclusion and all members of our community. I want to give a special shout-out to Sean Moran, who was a member of my team. He has driven that visibility and respect within our Warringah community.