Green Lantern wrote:
> "Sir John Howard" wrote in message
> news:2370ebbe-1c1f-4605-b723-f71551cea3c7@u36g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> > Alcopop thefts soar since tax jump
> >
> > http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/alcopop-thefts-soar-since-tax-jump/2008/05/07/1210131068841.html
> >
> > LESS than two weeks after the Government ramped up the tax to curb
> > binge-drinking, "alcopops" are walking off the shelves - illegally.
> >
> > Some bottle shop owners in Sydney's south-west are reporting a surge
> > in theft, not only of the so-called "ready-to-drink" mixes, which are
> > small and easy to conceal, but also the 700-millilitre bottles of
> > spirits that many young people appear to be switching to as an
> > alternative.
> >
> > Vel Tanaskoski, the co-owner of Glenfield Cellars, calculated that
> > thefts of individual alcopops had run into several cases over the past
> > few days, not including some cans that were recovered from individuals
> > as they tried to leave the store.
> >
> > "As soon as the price went up the stealing went up dramatically," he
> > said. "It's pointless to report it to the police. It's like the law's
> > on their side."
> >
> > Ready-to-drink products account for as much as 30 per cent of Mr
> > Tanaskoski's total sales, and he estimated that the 70 per cent
> > increase in tax, sprung by the Federal Government with little warning
> > two weekends ago, would force him to raise alcohol prices across the
> > board to cover costs.
> >
> > At Guildford Cellars, the proprietor, Bobby Singh, said storing all
> > the ready-to-drink products in refrigerators clearly visible from the
> > front counter had not been a deterrent to theft. He had, however,
> > caught two young people trying to shoplift the products in the past
> > week.
> >
> > "I talk to them out the back and say, 'Give them back, and please
> > don't come here any more'," said Mr Singh, who has also noticed an
> > increase in purchases of 700 millilitre bottles of Scotch and two-
> > litre bottles of Coke by his younger clientele.
> >
> > Rex Newaz, of Prestons Village Liquor, said he too had noticed a
> > sudden change in his younger customers' buying patterns.
> >
> > "The [ready-to-drink products] have slowed down a bit, but they're
> > just buying more spirits," he said.
> >
> > Terry Mott, the chief executive of the Liquor Stores Association, said
> > that while his office had yet to receive any figures indicating
> > increased income loss through theft, there was evidence that sales of
> > full-strength spirits were rising among the under-25s.
> >
> > "What the Government has done has encouraged young people to mix
> > without measuring, and they can be quite reckless in their measuring.
> > At least the number of standard drinks were on the side of the [ready-
> > to-drink] bottle. It's pushing the trend back the other way, and it's
> > not in the interests of curbing excessive alcohol consumption," he
> > said.
> >
> > ----------------------------------
> >
> > You'd have to be a typical labour-voting leftie retard not to have
> > seen this coming! Ha ha ha!
>
> Another leftie retard is the Health Minister Nicola Rocks-Off. Talk about an
> L-plater.
So she can't even Pee? |