The Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia - 13 May 2009 - Passing of Customs Tariff Validation Bill 2009 Welcomed

13 May 2009 - Passing of Customs Tariff Validation Bill 2009 Welcomed

The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) has welcomed the passing by the Senate of the Customs Tariff Validation Bill 2009, introduced by the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, in the House of Representatives yesterday.

The Bill will allow the Government to retain the $424 million collected in increased tax on ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol products, more commonly known as alcopops, over the past 12 months.

“ADCA looks forward to seeing the Government directing the tax revenue collected over the past 12 months to short and long-term prevention measures in order to significantly reduce alcohol-related harm,” ADCA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr David Templeman, said today.

“In a desperate last ditch attempt to destabilise the initial alcopops taxation debate, the distilled spirits industry indicated they didn’t want a refund of the alcohol excise taxation. While they now claim to fully support the retention of the collected tax by the Government, the industry says it will be watching to see how the money is used.

"But once again, their latest opinion fails to acknowledge the seriousness of alcohol and the problems associated with the perceived cultivation of our young generation to attract them to alcopops."

Mr Templeman said ADCA also supported the Government's Tabling in the House of Representatives yesterday of the Excise Tariff Proposal (No 1) 2009, and the Customs Tariff Proposal (No 3) 2009 to increase the rate of Excise and Customs Duty to $69.16 per litre of alcohol for "all excisable beverages not exceeding 10 percent by volume of alcohol".

"As Minister Roxon indicated, these Tariff Proposals will ensure that the revenue is continued to be collected (from tomorrow for 12 months) for all spirits at the same rate whether they are consumed as alcopops or full strength spirits," Mr Templeman said. “Today’s decision is a great step forward, but a lot more work has to be done if we are going to curb the national binge-drinking problem and change the 'alcohol culture' in the community.

"This includes management of responsible drinking, product branding, outlet density, marketing and advertising, opening hours, alcohol awareness projects for communities, and most importantly, investment in standardised and consistent data collection to plan for the future."

Media Enquiries: Brian Flanagan, Manager Strategic Communications and Policy -
Phone: 02 62159802 (W), 0400 860 058 (m)

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