Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the committee does not press its requests for amendments not made by the House of Representatives.

These bills are some of the most significant in terms of the health of our nation that this Senate will deal with for a very long time. I am appealing to senators—senators on the crossbenches and senators on the other side—to be mindful of the impact a vote against this legislation might have and to be mindful of the evidence that has been heard at not only the legislative committee inquiry but also two other inquiries. One of those inquiries was instigated in response to Senator Fielding’s private member’s bill. The evidence that has been heard by senators in this chamber clearly points to a vote in favour of this legislation for the health particularly of our young people. If these bills are defeated, the result will be a decrease in the costs of ready-to-drink products as of 13 May this year. All the good work that has been done since last April—that is, the 35 per cent reduction in consumption of ready-to-drink beverages and the total overall reduction in spirit consumption—will be reversed. The good work that we have achieved through this measure to slow any growth in alcohol consumption in this country from April last year to now will be reversed. All the good work that was part of Labor’s comprehensive plan to deliver a change in the drinking culture in this country will be undermined.

For the last 10 years there has been very little focus on inappropriate use of alcohol in this country. Since early last year, that has turned around. Since early last year we have had the Preventative Health Taskforce. Early last year we allocated $53.5 million to a National Binge Drinking Strategy working on three levels. That is evidence based policy. We have allocated $872 million to a broad approach to preventative health in this country—money that has never, ever been seen before. Then yesterday we allocated another $50 million to support a range of measures that senators in this place suggested the government should pursue. When I reported to the Senate on the agreement between the Greens senators and Senator Xenophon I made it absolutely clear that that money could not progress if these bills did not pass. Those senators who are contemplating voting against this legislation are jeopardising $50 million of greater investment into the health of our nation, particularly into the health of our young people.

During this debate we have heard appalling statistics about the growth in alcohol abuse, particularly by underage drinkers. We know that alcopops are designed for and marketed to largely underage and very young drinkers. We have seen the Facebook advertisements. We have seen the way in which the advertisements are designed and placed in magazines for young children. All of that evidence would tell you that, if you vote against this measure, those sorts of advertising regimes will be pumped up. We saw what happened with the alcohol industry, especially the distillers, in April last year when the tax increase on alcopops occurred. We saw the blitz of advertising to buy two bottles of straight spirits for an inordinately cheap price. We saw the free bottle of mixer with a bottle of spirits for an inordinately cheap price. What is going to happen on 13 May if this legislation is not passed? We will see a blitz of advertising targeting young people like you have never seen before, and all the good work that has occurred over the last 11 months will be pulled away. I fear for our young people if this legislation is not carried.

But, as I have said to Senator Fielding in particular and to Senator Siewert: there is no one silver bullet when it comes to dealing with culture change around the inappropriate use of alcohol. The equalisation of tax on alcopops is but one measure. We need a comprehensive plan, and we are working on a comprehensive plan. We have, through the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy, been dealing with a whole range of areas, including advertising. We have started down the road of looking at the linkages between sport, particularly young people’s sport, and the alcohol industry—thanks to the work of the crossbench senators yesterday.

Change in public health policy is always incremental. Yesterday Senator Brown alluded to the change to do with tobacco that has taken place over almost the last 30 years. Changing attitudes to inappropriate use of alcohol will also take time. This is not something you can do in one fell swoop. I am now appealing to comments that Senator Fielding has made—we expect that, over time, there will be change to the way that sport and alcohol interrelate, but we cannot do it in one hit. It is simply not possible to turn around an existing economic structure with one stroke of a pen. But I acknowledge Senator Fielding’s strong desire to work in this space. I acknowledge that he brought a private member’s bill into the Senate, and I acknowledge his strong desire to progress that. But I say to Senator Fielding and others that through a vote against this measure we will lose so much of the ground that we have already made.

So I urge not only the crossbench senators but also those senators in the Liberal Party and the National Party who stood in this place and said that they were concerned for our young children, that they could observe changed drinking habits of young people and that they were worried about the impact this was having on police time—it has grown in the last 10 years as a result of the inappropriate use of ready-to-drink beverages, particularly by very young people—to look into themselves and ask: ‘Is this the right thing for our kids?’ If they do that, they will observe that it is not. I strongly urge all senators to support this measure.

Senator Fielding was right late last year when he said that he would support this legislation. He said that, given the financial difficulties that our country was facing, the loss of $1.6 billion from the forward estimates was something that he was concerned about. He was very right then. I urge him to consider again those comments that he made, because he was right. Taking $1.6 billion and all of the fantastic public health commitments that we will be able to deliver to our community is, I think as Senator Xenophon has said, potentially throwing the baby out with the bathwater. This is important legislation not only for our children but also for the overall public health of this country. It is an important message to send to all Australians that we need to change the drinking culture in Australia. We need to make sure that very young people stop drinking, that young teenagers drink responsibly and that all Australians move to a more responsible drinking culture.

Public health experts have said to me that they have acknowledged and welcomed the changed focus of the federal government toward alcohol. This substance represents the second highest cost, after tobacco, to the health budget in this country. I think that, if the Senate does not support this measure today, that leadership and the Australian community’s changed perception of the inappropriate use of alcohol will be undermined. This is a very important vote and I urge senators to support the measure.