A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
Wonderful that they are banishing tart fuel to maintain standards in society, just like they took the initiative to censor the internet (which they can't really do... yet)
And the slippery slope begins (yada yada yada)
Hopefully they can take this war on drugs to it's logical conclusion with proper prohibition.
linkThe Rudd government overnight reversed the change, virtually doubling the excise on alcopops from midnight, pushing the cost of the drinks up by between 30 cents and $1.30 a bottle.
"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," Ms Roxon told the Nine Network.
"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."
Ms Roxon said she did not know why the Howard government had cut the excise in the first place.
"I think the previous government is partly responsible. I think they made a mistake. We're going to turn that around," she said.
"I don't know if it was pressure from lobbying, I don't know if they just made a mistake, but we've started to see the social consequences and we're not going to just stand by and let that keep happening."
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.
"It means that if you buy a Bacardi Breezer or a vodka and orange that's already premixed, you will be charged the same excise as if you bought that alcohol as a spirit and mixed it yourself," Ms Roxon said.
"Now that's sensible. We don't want there to be an extra price incentive to buy these products."
The price rise would be a significant deterrent to many young people, she said.
"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," she said.
The move will bring in an estimated $2 billion a year to the government, much of which will be spent on preventative health policies.
And the slippery slope begins (yada yada yada)
linkTHE Rudd Government's chief adviser on preventive health has called for an increase to the excise on tobacco of 2.5 cents a cigarette, which could raise $400 million a year on top of the $500 million to be raised from the increased excise on "alcopops".
Rob Moodie, who chairs the National Preventative Health Taskforce, said the increased excise on ready-mixed spirits - imposed at the weekend to fight teenage binge drinking - was "terrific" and should be extended to cigarettes.
"Using taxation or pricing as a lever for reducing harmful consumption is a really good idea," Dr Moodie told the Herald.
He said Australians were very sensitive to price rises, and increasing the excise by 2.5 cents a cigarette would reduce consumption by about 3 per cent.
"There is certainly room to move [and] this issue will certainly come up in the taskforce," Dr Moodie said.
The Government has raised the excise on drinks such as Bacardi Breezers and Vodka Cruisers from $39 per litre of pure alcohol to $67, adding as much as $1.30 to a bottle.
Hopefully they can take this war on drugs to it's logical conclusion with proper prohibition.