Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in this debate tonight on the Customs Tariff Amendment (2009 Measures No. 1) Bill 2009 and the Excise Tariff Amendment (2009 Measures No. 1) Bill 2009 because I know there will be people in the Australian community who are going to read theHansard from tonight or who have heard parts of this debate and who will hear the logic that is being used by government senators, and they will be attracted by the logic which is used by those senators. But I put to the Senate that that logic is very flawed. It is logic which is not followed through in a way which actually demonstrates cause and effect of the kind that this Senate should be identifying and acting on as the basis for its actions, particularly actions that have the effect of imposing taxation on the Australian community to the tune of well over $1½ billion. The logic used by the Labor senators in this debate is along these lines: we have a major problem with the abuse of alcohol in the Australian community; too many people, particularly young people, are using it at excessive levels; and the costs to the broader community are very severe; the government is acting on this problem by imposing a tax on the areas where apparently young people are heavy consumers of particular alcoholic products; therefore, the Senate should support the government’s attempt to attack this problem of excessive drinking by young people, and the government should therefore rely on the support of all parties in the Senate to pass its legislation.

That superficially sounds very attractive, but it hides a multitude of intellectual sins. Firstly, I am certain that nobody in this place would dispute that alcohol is a terrible scourge in the Australian community and that it would be completely wrong to oppose measures that genuinely reduce the abuse of alcohol in our community, particularly by younger Australians. But senators in this place need to go one step further and satisfy themselves that what is being done by the government is actually making a difference to the harmful levels of alcohol consumption by the Australian community and particularly by young Australians.

I concede the evidence does tend to suggest that there may have been some reduction in the total amount of alcohol sold to the Australian community as a result of this tax. But what is not clear and what was not demonstrated by any witness during the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs inquiry is that this reduction in alcohol consumption is actually occurring among younger drinkers—or in fact among drinkers of any age—who are presently abusing alcohol. That is the problem which this legislation encounters, legislation which imposes a colossal burden on certain people in the Australian community who consume these products.