Sir John Howard wrote:
> Taxes double on ready-to-drink alcohol
>
> [Isn't all alcohol ready to drink?]
>
> http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23605007-2,00.html
>
> A WAR of words has erupted after Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon
> accused the former Howard government of fuelling teenage binge
> drinking.
>
> Ms Roxon said a decision in 2000 to cut excise on pre-mixed alcoholic
> drinks – so-called alcopops – helped fuel the surge in excessive
> drinking by young people, particularly girls.
>
> A furious Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson branded the claim an
> “outrageous slur”.
>
> [Of course it is! labour need to deflect the blame for their blatant
> tax hike!]
>
> Ms Roxon said the Rudd Government's decision to lift the excise by 70
> per cent would help tackle binge drinking by making the sugary,
> innocuous tasting drinks between 30 cents and $1.30 a bottle more
> expensive.
>
> The tax increase will deliver about $2 billion a year to the
> Government – a “big chunk” of which will go to preventative health
> schemes, Ms Roxon said.
>
> [Sure it will!]
>
> She slammed the former government for cutting the excise, making pre-
> mixed drinks cheaper than bottled spirits.
>
> [And how does the alcohol percentage compare?]
>
> “I think the previous government is partly responsible. I think they
> made a mistake. We're going to turn that around,” Ms Roxon told
> Channel 9.
>
> [More like "I think we should raise taxes while, at the same time,
> blaming the opposition".]
>
> “We can track the change in the way that young women have been
> drinking these products from the time that the Howard government
> changed the excise in 2000.
>
> “We've seen patterns where it's gone from about 14 per cent of young
> girls drinking these products up to about 60 per cent.
>
> “So, this is an explosion that we think needs to be tackled ... We
> have a problem that must be turned around and this is the place where
> we're starting.”
>
> Dr Nelson said the Coalition supported the rise in the excise, but
> denied that the former government was to blame for binge drinking.
>
> “It is an outrageous slur on the previous government for anybody to
> suggest that by not further increasing the excise or tax on these
> alcoholic drinks, that in some way has led to their abuse,” Dr Nelson
> said in Sydney.
>
> “The Government, in fact, over the last 10 years responsibly put
> excise and taxes into alcoholic drinks to make sure that they did not,
> under any circumstances, reduce in price which the GST would have
> otherwise done.”
>
> Under the changes, which came into effect at midnight, excise on
> alcopops will rise from $39 a litre of pure alcohol to $67, putting
> them on an equal footing with bottled spirits.
>
> “We've got research that shows that young people are price sensitive
> and if that means that this is a deterrent then that will be a really
> successful measure on our part,” Ms Roxon said.
>
> [Roll on tax cuts! ha ha ha!]
>
> The Public Health Association (PHA) agreed, saying alcopops were the
> first drink for as many as 60 per cent of girls.
>
> “We know that price is the most effective single measure in reducing
> alcohol consumption, especially by young people,” PHA president Mike
> Daube said.
>
> “This increase will make a real dent in one of our biggest current
> social problems.”
>
> Figures released today show that girls aged 12 to 15 are more than
> three times as likely as boys of the same age to drink alcohol at
> least once a week.
>
> --------------------------------
>
> So why doesn't binge drinking KRudd and co. do something to stop
> underage drinking instead? Oh, right, they most vote labour!
>
Krudd plans to overhaul the tax system. Imagine what a monstrous
stuff-up that will be!
--
rgds,
Pete
=====
http://pw352.blogspot.com/
'I'm not young enough to know everything' -Oscar Wilde
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