Govt loses alcopops tax vote in Senate

Alcopops are likely to be cheaper within weeks while almost $300 million could be
returned to distillers after the government's tax hike on pre-mixed drinks was
defeated.
The cost of alcopops, popular with young drinkers, will now fall by between 30 cents
and $1.30 a bottle.
A case of Vodka Cruisers will cost about $25 less.
Family First senator Steve Fielding refused to back the 70 per cent tax hike on
ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages after the government failed to agree to his
demand for a ban on alcohol advertising during daytime sports broadcasts.
The government had agreed to two of his demands - warning labels on alcohol
containers and an end to self-regulation of alcohol advertising.
Senator Fielding held the deciding vote after the Australian Greens and independent
senator Nick Xenophon supported the legislation.
The defeat of the legislation blows a $1.6 billion hole in the government's budget.
But Senator Fielding blamed the government for the bill's failure.
"Australians will be disappointed in the Rudd government for not showing the courage
to stand up to the alcohol industry and do what 72 per cent of Australians want and
to see alcohol advertising restrictions put in place," he told a packed media
conference.
"We all know that alcohol is linked to sport and that needs to be broken.
"The Rudd government has missed an opportunity to break that link ... it's crazy."
Senator Fielding said the concessions won by the Greens and Senator Xenophon - $50
million of health funding and mandatory health warnings on alcohol and alcohol
advertising - can still proceed.
The Distilled Spirits Industry Council applauded Senator Fielding.
"The senators who made the right decision in rejecting the government's tax grab on
RTDs realised that a tax was not a solution to problem drinking," spokesman Stephen
Riden said.
"Senator Fielding demonstrated a sensible, practical approach to alcohol
policy-making in this country by voting down a measure that was flawed from the
outset."
It earlier appeared the government would get its tax hike over the line after
Coalition senator Nigel Scullion missed the vote.
But Labor allowed a second vote to be held which saw the legislation defeated by 32
votes to 31.
Senator Scullion apologised to the Senate for missing the division.
"It was an inadvertent error," he said.
"I was caught in a stairwell having an impromptu meeting.
"I didn't hear the bells."
The federal opposition says the government must now take urgent action so that the
money collected under the failed alcopops tax does not go back to the alcohol
industry.
Opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton said the government must table a bill in
the House of Representatives in the next 24 hours to "validate" the $300 million in
tax already collected.
That meant the money could be used to target binge drinking instead of going back to
distillers, Mr Dutton said.
The opposition would support such a bill.
"This money should not go back to the alcohol industry," he told reporters after the
alcopops vote.
"The ball's in the government's court."
Mr Dutton reiterated the opposition's decision to vote against the tax increase,
saying it was a tax grab which had not tackled binge drinking.
Young binge drinkers were turning to spirits, cask wine and beer as they drank fewer
alcopops, he said.
"This is a huge embarrassment for Nicola Roxon and the Rudd government," Mr Dutton
said of the alcopops episode.
"They rolled the dice and they got it wrong."