Government research: Taxes are good

A report on the social harm caused by alcohol, published by the Department of Health & Ageing, has been released and supports increased tax on alcohol. Commissioned by the previous federal government in 2006, the report shows that $15 billion worth of social harm could be significantly reduced with the introduction of higher taxes on alcohol.

"Young people are more influenced by the price of alcohol, so that increasing the tax rate on alcoholic drinks which are specifically targeted at the youth market (for example, alcopops) is likely to be effective," it says. "There would appear to be strong justification for the April 2008 increase in the Australian tax on pre-mixed drinks by 70%."

Costs of alcohol abuse were estimated by comparing current mortality, morbidity, health costs, workplace productivity, crime levels and road crashes to a hypothetical situation with no alcohol abuse. The Age is reporting this contradicts The Lancet medical journal, which last month said the tax hike would do little to stop binge-drinking by young people, as they would simply switch drinks.

Source: The Age

Beer-based alcopops avoid alcopop tax

Following the tax increase on alcopops (pre-mixed spirit drinks), there was speculation alcoholic drinks producers and consumers would switch to wine or other alcohol products to reduce the cost of alcohol consumption. It appears that speculation was correct.

Independent Distillers have announced a new drink, Bolt, to be offered in raspberry, passionfruit and blueberry flavours. Bolt is intended to taste like an alcopop drink, yet it will be an estimated $25 a carton cheaper than pre-mixed spirits. This is possible because Bolt is made with alcohol derived from beer, rather than from pure spirit. Beer taste characteristics are stripped out during production. Packaged beer is taxed at $39.40 a litre of pure alcohol while ready-to-drink beverages carry a tax of $66.70 a litre of pure alcohol.

Source: The Age

Study: Tax the amount of alcohol in a drink

Volumetric taxation of alcohol would be the most cost-effective way to combat binge drinking according to an Australian study funded by Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation (AER) Foundation. Banning alcohol advertising would be the second most cost-effective and sustainable measure with raising the legal drinking age to 21 years coming in third.

Christopher Doran, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, and Theo Vos from the University of Queensland, co-authors of the study say volumetric taxation and banning alcohol advertising should be a high priority.

"We need a fairer system that taxes alcohol as alcohol, rather than having different rates for beer, wine or spirits" said Daryl Smeaton, chief executive of AER in The Age. "Volumetric taxation makes sense from an economic, health and community perspective and is a crucial first step that needs to be taken in order to change patterns of alcohol consumption."

Currently wine has the lowest taxation of any alcohol beverage, based on alcohol content. If a volumetric tax were to be implemented it would be expected to raise the price of wine, and cask wine in particular. According to The Age, winemakers recently told a Senate enquiry that volumetric tax "would lead to a drop of 250,000 tonnes less in demand for grapes and 3,500 people losing their jobs".

Source: The Age

The "alco-swap" has begun

As the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia's (DSICA) Alco Tax Rip Off website claims Australians have spent an additional $145 million tax on pre-mixed drinks due to the federal government's recent tax increase, they've also noticed a major "alco-swap" occurring. The council said while sales of pre-mixed spirits are down, sales of straight spirits are up.

DSICA's Stephen Riden told ABC Radio "between April and June there was a 30 per cent decrease in the volume of alcohol sold in pre-mixed drinks but unfortunately a 46 per cent increase in the equivalent measure for bottled spirits." Family First's Victorian Senator Steve Fielding has been quoted in the Herald Sun saying "We have turned a drinking problem into a tax problem."

The federal government says the DSICA figures do not allow for normal seasonality in alcohol purchasing and show "the industry is prepared to selectively use data to protect their profits at the expense of young Australians."

Source: ABC Transcript, Herald Sun & The Shout.

UK doctors want cigarette-style warning pictures on alcohol

A meeting of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Edinburgh saw a "substantial majority" of the attending 400 doctors voting in favour of a motion by Dr Raj Nirula, a urologist at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, to try and combat binge drinking in the UK. He said doctors had taken the lead on highlighting dangers of smoking and should do the same with excessive alcohol consumption. "There is an epidemic of binge drinking the UK. We have to start from an early age with the teenagers. Binge drinking is becoming the norm culture."

What the doctors want:

Graphic images of diseased livers and mouth cancer displayed on alcohol products and in pubs and bars - warning about the heath risks of drinking too much.

The price of soft drinks lowered in bars and pubs (as they are often more expensive than alcohol meaning drinkers have little incentive to choose a non-alcoholic drink).

Mandatory labels showing alcohol units per drink on bottles and bar taps.

Source: Telegraph & Independent

Alcopop tax enough?

Steve Fielding, Family First Senator-elect, will apparently take on the government and its moves against binge drinking as he holds back his support for the proposed pre-mixed alcoholic drink tax rise.

"If the Rudd Government is serious about creating a culture of responsible drinking, and it wants to prove the alcopops tax is not just a tax grab, (it) would also introduce alcohol warning labels to alcopops and all other alcohol products," Mr Fielding said.

Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens raised similar concerns and along with independent Nick Xenophon the three men will share the balance of power in the new Senate. None of the men have committed support to the Government's tax rise and the Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has promised to block it.

Australia currently has no uniform tax on a set measure of alcohol - taxes on a litre of wine, beer or spirits are all different. Shadow treasurer Malcolm Turnbull added that the move only added to the anomalies of alcohol taxation.

The Age has taken the opportunity to rehash expert opinion on the alcopop tax issue, listing the following expert's opinions in support of the government's move with their recent article:
"Evidence around the world shows that volumetric taxation is one of the most effective levers for reducing excessive consumption." - John Rogerson, chief executive of the Australian Drug Foundation.
"International evidence demonstrates that taxing alcopops at the same rate as bottled spirits will change the consumption patters among young people and lead to less alcohol-related harm." - Daryl Smeaton, chief executive of Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation
"There is now drastic evidence showing that young women are out-drinking their male counterparts, and unfortunately many of them drink to get drunk. This has been helped by the ready availability of cheap spirit-based drinks, which have become the first drink of choice for young women." - Professor Mike Daube, president of the Public Health Association of Australia
"It's easy to ridicule such measures but they tend to be surprisingly effective." - Professor John Toumbourou, Deakin University
"Using taxation or pricing as a lever for reducing harmful consumption is a really good idea." - Rob Moodie, chairman of the National Prevention Health Taskforce
"Frankly, the more we can do to make these sweeter beverages less available to young people, whose bodies and brains are still developing, the better." - Professor Richard Mattick, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

Source: The Age

Industry: Risky teen drinking is down

The number of heavy drinkers aged between 14 and 19 has been lowering over the past few years according to research cited by industry analysts. Industry analysis of the official figures shows teenage girls and boys who are drinking at risky levels (five or more drinks a day or 29 or more drinks a week for girls and seven or more drinks a day or 43 or more drinks a week for boys) has steadily declined over the past six years.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Adult bingers forgotten?

Anita Quigley, in her last column for the Daily Telegraph writes about the Australian public's obsession with alcohol and how raising the price of pre-mixed drinks by a $1 will not fix the larger social issues driving a nation of older binge drinkers.

Source: News.com.au

Industry: Tax increase misguided

The ABC is reporting the recent tax increase for ready-to-drink spirit drinks is being heralded as "misguided" by the Distilled Spirits Industry Council. The Council says the move will only encourage teenagers to binge on other types of alcohol.

The ABC Internet comments have received quite a bit of support for the Industry's viewpoint, including Pog who stated; "This will not change a bloody thing and will affect the people who actually like a breezer or Bundy and Coke premix the most." And Kamo came out in support, "Pog's right, this will just encourage kids to scull passion pop or shot cheap bottles of bourbon rather than learn to drink a mix drink or beer at a reasonable pace."

Source: ABC

Pre-mixed drink tax almost doubled

After earlier speculation about an increase in tax for alcopops or pre-mixed drinks, the federal government has today announced it will almost double the tax on those beverages. The excise will rise to $67 a litre of pure alcohol, the same excise as bottled spirits and up from the current $39 a litre - the price of individual beverages is expected to rise by 30 cents to $1.30 depending on alcohol content.

The change is expected to raise an additional $2 billion a year in tax revenue, with the government claiming a "big chunk" will go to preventative health schemes. Mike Daube, president of the Public Health Association, said "this increase will make a real dent in one of our biggest current social problems."

Source: Bloomberg & The Age.

More talk on binge drinking

ABC News is reporting this morning that binge drinking will be a key topic of conversation when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joins Australia's capital city lord mayors this afternoon. Adelaide Lord Mayor Michael Harbison, who will lead the discussions, stated "there's no doubt that [binge drinking] is an issue that principally takes place in cities, but this is an issue that we can work together to manage and we welcome the Prime Minister's interest in the issue."

Source: ABC

The Truth About Binge Drinking (Ten, 7:30pm)

Tonight on channel Ten at 7:30pm we have a british documentary on the effects of binge drinking for a month. Michelle Heaton, a british pop singer, is filmed over a month as she drinks excessively and it detrimentally impacts her health, work and relationships. Sydney Morning Herald review.

Pre-mix price rise

The Herald Sun claims to have seen a confidential government report proposing an increase to the price of pre-mixed drinks (also known as alcopops). Believed to be supported by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Health Minister Nicola Roxon, the move would reverse the price reduction that occured under the Howard government with the introduction of the GST in 2000. The move would assist in the government's campaign against youth binge drinking according to doctors and anti-alcohol groups. Australia has the highest per capita consumption of alcopops in the world, double that of the next biggest consumers, Britain and New Zealand - and most of these are being consumed by the demographic under increased scrutiny: young people.

Source: Herald Sun

Alan Jones: Adults are the real binge drinkers

Alan Jones has returned to the microphone for a diatribe on youth binge drinking. He claims (with the use of statistics from various sources) that as a nation we are drinking less, and the only large groups of daily drinkers are in older age groups. "And if we're going to talk about problem drinkers, we might have to accept that like many things, it's the adults, not the kids who are leading the way."

Source: Live News

Why do people want to get pissed?

In an article heavy on expert opinions, The Age, gives us the views of Professor John Fitzgerald, VicHealth senior research fellow at Melbourne University, who claims his research hasn't nailed one pivotal question: "Why do people want to get pissed?"

It goes on to talk to:
Kate Roffey, VicSport chief executive
Dr Con Stavros, a senior marketing lecturer at RMIT who is a member of the reference group for the Australian Drug Foundation's community alcohol action network
Rob Moodie, professor of global health at the Melbourne University's Nossal Institute
Brendon Gale, AFL Players Association chief executive
Michael Sholly, chief executive of the Victorian Amateur Football Association
Professor Robin Room, a world authority on alcohol policy and acting director of Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre
Dr Simon Crisp, a clinical adolescent psychologist from Monash University
David Murray, Youth Substance Abuse Service chief executive

And concludes with this in the second last paragraph:
"One of the major issues alcohol experts believe exacerbates health and social problems is the proliferation of liquor licences. In Victoria there have been two licences granted every day for the past 20 years. Recent research confirmed the link between licences and violence, indicating that every new bottle shop opened in a rural area will lead to 32 assaults, and each new pub in the city will spark 17 domestic violence cases."

Sporting venues told to sober up

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has assigned $53,500,000 to try and combat binge drinking, in particular binge drinking amongst young Australians.

Recent studies found more than 30% of youths aged 13 to 17 had participated in unsupervised drinking at a sports club — and almost three-quarters had never been asked for proof of age. Further, one in 14 sporting club members — and one in eight aged 18 to 20 — drank more than 13 standard drinks every time they went to the club. This is more than double the government's health guidelines on binge drinking for adult men (six standard drinks in one single session).

Where's the money going?
$14.4 million will be assigned to sporting clubs to develop codes of conduct on binge drinking among members.
$19.1 million will be on education and early intervention programs for teenagers, and
$20 million will be on a shock advertising campaign encompassing television, radio and the Internet aimed at highlighting the consequences of binge drinking to young people.

Sources: The Age & Herald Sun