Grant Chapman (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is binge taxation, mainlining on tax dollars, Senator Coonan. At first glance, the policy sounds feasible, even a positive step towards addressing the growing problem of binge drinking amongst young people. But when you get past the government’s spin and actually look at the figures you will see that, despite the tax, the government expects an increase in revenue from these drinks. In other words, the government’s budget predicts that, in fact, more of these beverages are going to be sold in the coming year despite the tax.