News
Professor Wayne Hall calls for alcopops tax
Thursday, 12 March 2009The group of 20 of Australia’s leading public health academics, clinicians and campaigners wrote an open letter, or Public Statement, to the Senate which was published in The Australian on the 5th of March.
The Public Statement calls on the Senate to pass the proposed excise on ready-to-drink, premixed spirits, citing international research that shows the tax will reduce the amount of alcohol consumed at high-risk levels by young drinkers.
The group notes that sales of alcopops have dropped by 26% since the 70% tax hike was introduced last April. They describe the tax initiative as ‘one important step in what needs to be a comprehensive response to the burden of alcohol-related harm.’
The issue is discussed further in a paper co-authored by Professor Hall and published online in the Medical Journal of Australia(Chikritzhs T, Dietze P, Allsop S, Daube M, Hall W, Kypri K. The ‘alcopops’ tax: heading in the right direction. Medical Journal of Australia. 2009; Rapid Online Publication 2 Mar 2009)
Previous News
