Campaign against 'liquid gold' continues in Tasmania

A national campaign against a crippling hidden beer tax hit the shores of Tasmania over the weekend.

AHA CEO Stephen Ferguson has been in Burnie and Launceston these past days meeting with local politicians and punters in pubs to discuss the impact of the Federal Government’s tax on draught beer – which went up quietly again last Tuesday and which the AHA say will 'rip $150 million out of people’s pockets'. 

“Tasmanians join their counterparts on the mainland in paying the fourth highest beer tax in the world,” Mr Ferguson said in Hobart today.

“This hidden beer tax – which goes up twice a year – is hitting pub-goers in the hip pocket at a time they can least afford it. It means soon we could regularly be seeing schooners costing $10, with the hidden tax dollars flowing directly to Canberra instead of staying in Tasmanian pockets.

“We are pushing all sides of politics for relief for those in our bars as the cost of living continues to rise on all fronts. This tax needs to be halved – and the sooner the better.”

The increase to the excise duty rate per litre of alcohol by a factor of 1.021 means the amount of tax both commercial premises and brewers pay per litre will rise depending on which product they brew, with the added costs passed onto consumers.

A keg of beer between eight litres and 48 litres where the alcohol volume does not exceed 3 per cent will now incur an excise duty of $9.20 per litre of alcohol. Previously, the same excise duty was just $9.01.

For kegs over 48 litres where the alcohol volume is between 3% and 3.5% – i.e. commercial kegs, given how many are approximately 50 litres – the excise duty will climb from $28.23 per litre of alcohol to $28.82.

Tasmanian Hospitality Association CEO Steve Old said it was time to give pub-goers a fair go.

“Enough really is enough – pubs and patrons alike have been doing it tough during COVID – we should be encouraging people to safely socialise together once again, not taxing them on one of life’s small pleasures,” Mr Old said.

“This hidden tax has increased every six months for 35 years – it’s nothing but a tax on socialising and has to stop before beer really does become liquid gold.”

The campaign, which is strongly backed by the Brewers Association whose CEO John Preston is also in Tasmania, will continue in marginal seats in coming weeks.

The Brewers Association has shared sales figures from the ATO that show pubs and clubs sold 40 million fewer pints of beer in July- September 2021 than they did for the same period in 2019, before the pandemic hit. A drop of more than 50 per cent in beer sales.

The ATO recorded 903,982 litres of alcohol as having been served in beers over the counter in July-September 2021 compared to 1,993,027 litres during the same period in 2019.

Mr Preston said:

“These figures show that the damage to our pubs and clubs from the pandemic actually worsened last year. On average beer sales are around 70 per cent of alcohol sales volumes in licensed premises and a drop of this severity has hit pubs and clubs incredibly hard.

“We are calling for the Federal Government to use the forthcoming Federal Budget to reduce Australia’s fourth highest beer tax in the world to give pubs and clubs a fighting chance."