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

I remind Senator Cormann that the names of the bills that we are debating today are the Excise Tariff Validation Bill 2009 and the complementary Customs Tariff Validation Bill 2009. Those bills are asking for the validation of $424 million that has been collected over the last 12 months because of the imposition of the alcopops tax. So, as to your assertion that the Australian people need to be reassurred that the fiscal position is known, I can absolutely, unequivocally answer that, if these bills are passed today, $424 million will not go back to the distillers and the importers. It will be collected and used by the government in a range of ways, including a whole range of measures that we have talked about for the last couple of hours. That is the position that the Australian people, I believe, totally understand. I re-offer to assist on those specific questions that you have asked as soon as possible.